Daniel M. Davis Sr., a 36-year-old Canton man, was a husband and a father to three children and a stepson. He was born on December 29, 1978, to Candace and Ronald Davis. On April 25, 2014, he married his wife, Shantilia. Remembered by his mother, a sister, and a brother, his family chose to honor his memory with a private memorial service following his unexpected and violent death.
The evening of Sunday, August 23, 2015, turned tragic in the Skyline Terrace apartments, a residential complex in the 800 block of Alan Page Drive SE in Canton, Ohio. Around 10:10 p.m., Daniel Davis and his 19-year-old stepson, Giovanni Woodberry, were having an argument outside one of the apartment buildings. Their dispute, however, drew the attention of another group of people who were nearby but not involved in the family disagreement. Among them was a 16-year-old male, Adarius J.
Moore, who did not live in the complex.
For reasons that investigators would later struggle to untangle, the verbal altercation escalated into deadly violence. According to the Canton Police Department, Moore misinterpreted the argument between Davis and Woodberry, possibly believing their comments were directed at him and his companions. In what police Captain Dave Davis described as a potential "miscommunication," Moore allegedly produced a gun and opened fire. Daniel Davis was struck by the gunfire and died at the scene. His stepson, Giovanni Woodberry, was shot in the right calf. Woodberry was transported to Mercy Medical Center for treatment of the non-life-threatening injury.
The Canton Police Department’s detective bureau launched an immediate investigation into the fatal shooting. The case did not remain unsolved for long. Just over a week later, on Monday, August 31, 2015, investigators arrested Adarius J. Moore. He was charged with murder for the death of Daniel Davis and felonious assault for the wounding of Giovanni Woodberry. Captain Davis, who is not related to the victim, announced the arrest and the charges against the teenager.
Following the arrest, the case was handed to the Stark County Prosecutor's Office. Michelle Cordova, the head of the office's juvenile division at the time, confirmed that prosecutors had filed motions to have Moore’s case transferred from the juvenile system to be tried in adult court. Under Ohio law, the seriousness of the charges and the suspect's age made such a transfer likely, setting the stage for a potentially significant prison sentence if convicted.
Police continued their investigation even after Moore's arrest, suggesting that more charges or additional arrests could be pending as they worked to understand the full scope of the incident and who else was involved. The department also asked for the public's help, encouraging anyone with information to contact detectives or to use the city's anonymous Tip411 service.
As of the last public reports on the case in September 2015, Adarius Moore was facing prosecution and the judicial process to determine if he would be tried as an adult was underway. The final outcome of the charges against him, including the result of the juvenile court transfer, any subsequent trial or plea, and a potential sentence, has not been detailed in subsequent public media reports. The case against the teenager who tragically cut Daniel Davis's life short remains a somber chapter in the city's history, leaving a family to navigate their loss and a community to ponder a senseless act of violence.
