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Murder victim’s sister waited nine years to hear triple killer was found guilty

Published

2 years ago

March 19, 2023

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ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – It was an emotional ending to a drawn-out criminal case involving brutal Valentine’s Day stabbings. Shawn Kavanagh had asked a judge for a lesser charge than murder first, for his 2014 knife attack that killed three people.

FOX 2 was the only media station in the courtroom when the verdict came down. It came after an excruciating nine-year wait.

“It was relief,” said Haley Roberts. “I felt like Lexi, her son, and my sister were all being seen, all being heard.”

Top story: Murder victim’s sister waited nine years to hear triple killer was found guilty

Roberts said she never gave up hope for justice in the murders that took the life of her sister, Tara Fifer, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In February 2014, in Warren County, Kavanagh called 911 to say he had stabbed four people. Three of them, including a 7-year-old child, died in the attack. His target was his wife at the time, who survived. Kavanagh was almost immediately arrested and charged, yet the case dragged through the court system.

Roberts spoke to FOX 2 after a hearing last month about some of the unusual delays.

“One of the judges passed away. One of his lawyers had gotten pregnant at one point and just wasn’t able to withstand trial,” Roberts said in February.

She said other delays were of the defendant’s choosing, such as the change of venue, which brought the murder case here to St. Charles County, an hour’s drive for Roberts and her family.

“It’s been stressful. There’s been a lot of emotions,” Roberts said. “I think that as a family, we found out a lot more than what we knew prior to what we knew when walking into the courtroom.”

Like the fact, Kavanagh would fight for a second-degree murder conviction. FOX 2 spoke to Roberts about that before the judge’s verdict.

“It’s hard to be here today and know that the fate of his conviction is riding on what the answer is today,” she said. “There’s been a lot of sleepless nights the last few weeks just waiting for this.”

After a three-day bench trial this week, Judge Rebecca Navarro-McKelvey found Kavanagh guilty nine times—three counts of first-degree murder and six additional felony counts related to Kavanagh’s stabbing rampage.

“It felt like a thousand pounds lifted off of me, off of my family,” Roberts said. “I mean, you could feel it in the entire courtroom; everybody, like our shoulders, could finally drop and we could stop carrying this on our own.”

Next is the decision about whether Kavanagh will be put to death. That phase will play out in court next week.

“I will not miss that. But it doesn’t matter how it goes, either way, that’s not going to bring my sister back,” Roberts said. “I’m glad that he’s been convicted how he was supposed to be, and from now it’s in God’s hands.”

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

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2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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