Affidavits: Texts, meth point to 2

A torrent of angry text messages, a hidden stash of methamphetamine and inconsistent statements led investigators to seek the arrest of a Hot Springs attorney and her brother in the shooting death of a Garland County man more than two years ago, according to affidavits obtained Wednesday.

As of early Wednesday evening, Andrea Davis, 36, had not been served with the warrant that was issued Monday seeking the arrest of her and her brother Matthew Davis on manslaughter charges in the February 2012 shooting of Maxwell Anderson, 34,inside Andrea Davis’ home.

Andrea Davis’ attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, said Tuesday that his client and her brother will surrender to law enforcement officers sometime this week.

Arrest affidavits released Wednesday indicate that in the days before he was shot, Anderson had agreed to get Andrea Davis and her brother $1,200 worth of methamphetamine.

A flurry of text messages and phone calls among Andrea Davis, her brother and Anderson showed that the Davises suspected Anderson had “ripped them off ” and that when Anderson visited Andrea Davis’ home on Feb. 29, a struggle began in her living room, according to affidavits.

The affidavits say the struggle ended when Matthew Davis shot Anderson at close range with a Smith & Wesson Governor revolver, a handgun that can shoot .410 shotgun shells.

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Andrea Davis faces a felony charge in the use of a communication device in furtherance of a felony.

Andrea Davis currently is awaiting trial on two felony counts of theft by receiving after a January arrest by Garland County sheriff’s deputies, who reported finding two stolen cargo trailers as well as some stolen tools on her property.

That arrest prompted a state disciplinary panel to suspend her law license.

She also is named in an outstanding warrant on a burglary charge stemming from a break-in at the 108 Chincapin St. home of Mark Fraiser in Hot Springs.

After returning home from a six-day absence Jan. 2, Fraiser told Hot Springs police he found that someone had broken into his house and that two of his handguns and one shotgun worth about $1,050 were missing, according to court records.

The evidence that officers gathered in that case included a Newport brand cigarette butt in Fraiser’s ashtray.

According to police, Fraiser smoked only Marlboros.

The Arkansas Crime Laboratory matched the DNA from that cigarette butt to Andrea Davis, according to reports.

In late 2012, Andrea Davis was connected with state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, then the presumptive front-runner for the Democratic nomination for governor. In January 2013, McDaniel admitted to having an “inappropriate” relationship with Davis and withdrew from the governor’s race.

FEB. 29, 2012

According to investigators, Andrea Davis called Garland County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. She reported that Anderson had attacked her, and that her brother went to her defense and used a gun on “the person who broke into” her 251 Ledgerwood Road home.

When deputies arrived, they found Anderson’s lifeless body face down in a pool of blood in Andrea Davis’ driveway.

Police took both of the Davises away in handcuffs for questioning, and both said that Anderson was hired by Matt Davis the day before to help repair a television and install some security cameras.

Matt Davis paid Anderson $1,200 in advance for the cameras, according to the affidavits.

But according to Matt and Andrea Davis, Anderson failed to follow through on the arrangement.

The night before, Feb. 28, Matt Davis taught his sister how to use his Governor handgun, they told investigators. But the siblings’ accounts differed over why he left the gun with her that night.

That wasn’t the only discrepancy in the siblings’ statements, according to investigators.

The siblings’ account of the shooting describes an upset Anderson showing up at Andrea Davis’ home while they were both there and Anderson attacking Andrea Davis with a golf club. He then pulled a knife on Matt Davis, who shot Anderson and was “shocked when the gun went off because it all happened so quickly,” according to the affidavits.

Anderson staggered out of the house, his knife in hand, and collapsed on the driveway, according to Matt Davis.

But when detectives examined Anderson’s body, they reportedly found the knife “concealed” and tucked under his waistband.

Detectives reported noticing that the living room showed signs of the struggle described by the Davises, including an overturned couch.

Andrea Davis had told investigators that Anderson had abruptly taken a seat on the couch, while her brother told detectives that he shoved Anderson down into the couch, which Anderson then overturned when he attacked Matt Davis with the knife.

Detectives also noticed that Anderson had scratches on his face that “were not explained by [the Davises’ accounts] and would appear to indicate other signs of a struggle.”

An examination of the phone records of Anderson and the Davises, though, eroded the story that Anderson was given a cash advance for some electronics work, the detectives noted.

“[Anderson’s] death was the result of a drug transaction gone bad,” the detectives wrote. “[Anderson] was provided money by [the Davises] in order to purchase methamphetamine for them, and returning to [Andrea Davis’] residence, possibly without the drugs or the money, led to his death.”

According to detectives, Andrea Davis texted Anderson about a drug buy involving “turkey” and “gravy,” slang for methamphetamine and heroin.

“Can you do that deal we talked about regarding the 1200 turkey. What he do if we got two ounces of gravy? 2400? Or deal? Jew em down. We wanna talk to u about some s***,” the texts said.

By the day of the shooting, detectives said the text messages indicated that “[Andrea Davis] is very upset and it appears she believes [Anderson] ripped them off and she wants him to return the money.”

Detectives noted that “the calls and heated text continue … up until just prior to [Anderson’s] death.”

A week after Anderson was pronounced dead in the driveway of Andrea Davis’ home, Anderson’s live-in girlfriend opened her locked mailbox and found an iPhone box filled with 18.8862 grams of methamphetamine, valued at about $1,200, according to detectives.

The manslaughter charge and the charge concerning use of a communication device are both Class C felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.