Coroner: Murder victim died of asphyxia, gagging

A 42-year-old man was found strangled Saturday in his residence at 945 J Street, a complex within College Square Apartments. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise photo

Davis had its first murder in nearly seven years Saturday with the death of a 42-year-old man in his J Street apartment, police announced Sunday.

The body of Kevin Gerard Seery, who had celebrated his birthday on Sept. 26, was found on the bedroom floor of his residence at the College Square Apartments, 945 J St., according to Davis police Lt. Paul Doroshov. The discovery occurred at about 10:30 a.m., shortly after two men placed a 911 call from a cell phone requesting medical aid.

“Known male fell out of chair and is injured,” was the report, according to the police crime bulletin. Firefighters arrived on scene and summoned police, Doroshov said.

About 10 hours later, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, detectives arrested one of the 911 callers, 36-year-old James Elron Mings of Davis, on suspicion of murder following an interview at the Davis Police Department. He is being held without bail at the Yolo County Jail.

Mings’ arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Yolo Superior Court. He declined an interview request from The Davis Enterprise.

“They’re somewhat recent acquaintances,” Doroshov said of Mings and Seery. He said the victim invited Mings into his apartment earlier that day, where their relationship apparently took a downward turn.

An autopsy conducted Monday revealed that Seery died of “asphyxia by neck compression and gagging,” Yolo Count Chief Deputy Coroner Robert LaBrash said.

Doroshov confirmed that “there were some cloth items found in his throat,” though he declined to be more specific. The motive, he added, remains under investigation, but isn’t believed to be robbery or theft.

Mings has no criminal history that police are aware of, “but we have had contact with him in the past,” said Doroshov, who declined to elaborate. Mings gave police a home address of 1111 J St., not far from the alleged murder scene, though “we believe he may not really have a solid address.”

Police are not releasing the name of the second man who reported the death with Mings, though at this point he’s believed to be only a witness to the incident, Doroshov said.

There were no immediate indications that drugs or alcohol were factors in the homicide, “but that’s something we’re going to explore,” Doroshov said. “We haven’t ruled that out.”

Meanwhile, the homicide investigation is ongoing, Doroshov said. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Davis Police Department at (530) 747-5400.

Doroshov said police delayed announcing the homicide until shortly before noon Sunday because “we still didn’t know what we had” when the investigation began Saturday. “But it appeared to be suspicious.”

The alleged crime occurred in apartment No. 322 on the west side of the apartment complex, where students and other young adults make up the majority of the residents. The door of the ground-floor apartment remained sealed with neon-orange coroner’s seal stickers Sunday evening, the area surrounding them still smudged with fingerprint dust.

A ramp had been installed just outside Seery’s apartment door. Several neighbors said he used a wheelchair.

“As far as I know he just moved in a few months ago,” said neighbor Jessica Wieland, 22, whose apartment shares a rear wall with Seery’s. But she said she heard nothing suspicious coming from his apartment on Saturday morning.

Although she had never met Seery, “I feel bad for him, you know,” Wieland said.

Another neighbor, who identified herself only as Maria, said she met Seery briefly when she moved into the apartment complex about two weeks ago.

“He introduced himself one time, and that was it,” she said. “He was friendly, said if we needed any help we could come and just ask him.”

Nathan Myers, whose apartment sits across a parking lot from Seery’s, said he noticed something amiss when he got home from work Saturday morning. He spotted two fire engines in the parking lot, along with a group of onlookers.

“When I left later, there was a police car,” said Myers, 22. An officer was talking to two people next to a nearby hedge, but Myers didn’t hear the gist of the conversation.

“I was a bit surprised that it happened right here,” said Myers, who has lived at the College Square Apartments for just under a year. He described the complex as “quiet and cozy,” except for the occasional party or waft of marijuana smoke.

Davis’ last murder was on Nov. 18, 2004, when 35-year-old Dennis Edward Thrower was gunned down in the doorway of his residence at the Tennis Club Apartments (since renamed the Clearwater Apartments), 4141 Cowell Blvd. Eric Steven Chase Jr. later pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and first-degree robbery and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Investigators believe Chase had gone to Thrower’s apartment with another man who fired the fatal shots, though the second suspect was never caught.

— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8048. Follow her on Twitter @laurenkeene

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Posted by Lauren Keene on Oct 2 2011.
Last Login: Mon 21 May 2012 04:26:23 PM PDT
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