Gary Dion Davis Sr., aged 54, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1996 stabbing death of Pearl Barnes in Kansas City, Kansas. A Wyandotte County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in January 2023. The incident occurred on November 22, 1996, when Barnes, also known as Sammemah Mussawir or Pearl Davis, was discovered dead in her childhood home on Lafayette Avenue. Following his conviction, Davis will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Notably, he had been previously charged but acquitted in the fatal beating of Christina King on Christmas Day 1998, despite DNA evidence linking him to the crime. Davis's arrest in September 2023 was prompted by the establishment of a cold case unit within the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, which has led detectives to suspect he may be involved in additional unsolved murders.