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Mike CoppingerESPN
Gervonta Davis allegedly struck a woman on the right side of her head with a “closed hand type slap,” leading to his arrest this week in Florida, according to a Broward County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
According to the incident report, the woman, who doesn’t live with Davis and whose name was redacted, suffered a small abrasion to the inside of her upper lip on the right side of her mouth.
The 135-pound boxer was arrested at 2:50 p.m. ET Tuesday in Parkland, Florida, and jailed on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge of battery causing bodily harm, according to Broward County Sheriff’s Office records.
Davis denied the allegations on social media. The 28-year-old from Baltimore is scheduled to headline a PBC on Showtime PPV event Jan. 7 in Washington, D.C., against Hector Luis Garcia. The bout is planned as a prelude to an April 25 superfight in Las Vegas against Ryan Garcia. Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 3 boxer at 135 pounds.
According to court records, he is also set to appear in Baltimore Circuit Court on Feb. 16 for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run crash in November 2020.
The star boxer has had numerous run-ins with the law over the years. Here is a timeline of incidents since 2019.
Feb. 27, 2019: An arrest warrant was issued for Davis in connection with an alleged altercation at a mall in McLean, Virginia, that took place Feb. 17, per Fairfax County police.
Davis allegedly had a run-in with a man at an ATM at the Tysons Galleria in suburban Washington before he began to argue with police. He allegedly shoved a police officer. Davis was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault. The case was dismissed that October, TMZ reported.
Feb. 4, 2020: Davis was charged with simple battery domestic violence in Coral Gables, Florida, following an incident with the mother of his daughter on the campus of the University of Miami.
In a 14-second video, Davis was seen forcefully grabbing the woman near her neck and pulling her out of her seat during a charity basketball game on Super Bowl weekend. Davis then walked her out of the arena as they appeared to argue.
“As a result of an ongoing investigation after being notified through social media and the victim, on Feb. 1, 2020, [Davis] was observed battering his former girlfriend [with] whom [they] have a child together,” Coral Gables police said in a statement. “[Davis] surrendered himself to Coral Gables police detectives assigned to the case.”
Davis, who was held on $1,500 bail, denied the allegations in a social media post.
“I never once hit her, yea I was aggressive and told her come on … that’s the mother of my child I would never hurt her.”
Davis’ post was later deleted.
In the arrest affidavit, Davis was accused of dragging the victim to a separate room by her shirt and states that video surveillance shows a partial view of the fighter “pulling his arm back and then forward towards the victim, which is consistent with a strike to the face.”
The complaint stated that the victim provided a written statement consistent with the altercation and that photos taken of the victim’s injuries are “consistent with a strike to the face.”
Nov. 5, 2020: Davis was accused of fleeing the scene of an accident that involved four people, including a pregnant woman, Jyair Smith. Davis was facing 14 charges, including failure to immediately return and remain at the scene of an accident involving bodily injury.
Davis was traveling in a 2020 Lamborghini Urus SUV in the early morning hours when he ran a red light and struck a 2004 Toyota Solara, according to Baltimore police.
Sept. 22, 2022: According to the Baltimore City State Attorney’s Office, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge declined to approve a plea deal that would have avoided jail time for Davis in the 2020 hit-and-run and instead meted out 60 days of house arrest. The trial is expected to last two days.
Jyair Smith has testified that she was trapped in a smoking vehicle while screaming, according to The Baltimore Sun. She said Davis “looked me in the eyes, and he never came over to help.”
Smith said her knee was seriously injured and that she was unable to play with her children or work normally despite several physical therapy sessions. Smith was pursuing a civil case against Davis. The other three alleged victims all settled their civil cases against Davis; none of those three objected to the proposed plea deal, according to prosecutors.
The Lamborghini became disabled after it struck a fence, per the police report, before the occupants abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.
Witness accounts and video footage showed Davis leaving the scene in a black Chevrolet Camaro, according to police.
The trial for the alleged hit-and-run incident is set for Feb. 16 in Baltimore, where Davis was born.
Dec. 13, 2022: Davis faced misdemeanor charges in Coral Gables, Florida, where he had been accused of striking the mother of his children in February 2020. That case was discharged, according to court records.
Dec. 27, 2022: Davis was arrested after allegedly striking a woman with a “closed hand type slap.”
On the audio of the 911 call, which ESPN obtained, the woman was heard saying, “Please help me; I need help, please. I’m trying to go home, I have a baby in the car and [he] attacked me. … He’s going to kill me.”
Moments later, the call ended. She reconnected with police 50 seconds afterward, crying, and said, “I need to go. I’m in danger right now.”
Police were then contacted by a representative from the Mercedes-Benz emergency center, who said the woman pressed the emergency button in her car and said a man was “speeding at her.”
Davis was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the alleged incident, according to the report.
Davis denied the allegations in a since-deleted social media post.
“I NEVER PUT MY HANDS ON MY CHILD MOTHER NOR MY F—ING DAUGHTER ARE YOU F—ING CRAZY!!” a part of Davis’ post said before it was deleted. “IM NOT A MONSTER I BEEN QUIET FOR TOO LONG. … THAT’S THE ONLY REASON I’M DOING THIS NOW! JUST TO CLEAR MY NAME!”
Dec. 28, 2022: Davis was released Wednesday following a court hearing where bail was set at $1,000, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Dec. 30, 2022: The woman who called police to report Davis said he “did not harm me or our daughter.”
The woman, whose identity was confirmed to ESPN by her attorney, released a statement on her Instagram account, saying in part that she “made an unnecessary call to law enforcement in an intense moment while I was frantic.”
“These past few days have been hurtful and extremely exhausting for all parties involved,” the woman wrote in her statement. “I pride myself on being extremely private; this situation was the last thing I wanted to be made public. The state of our relationship has been in a fragile space and Gervonta and I were both at fault for the argument.
“While the emotions were running high I made an unnecessary call to law enforcement in an intense moment while I was frantic. Gervonta did not harm me or our daughter. Today, we have sought the help necessary to move forward with our lives. I am confident that we will succeed within our co-parenting dynamic with the counseling provided to us.”
Feb. 16, 2023: Davis pleads guilty in hit-and-run case
Davis pleaded guilty to four traffic offenses stemming from a hit-and-run crash in November 2020 that left four people injured, including a pregnant woman: leaving the scene of an accident involving bodily injury, failing to notify of property damage, driving with a revoked license and running a red light. Upon Davis entering his guilty plea, Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy told Davis that he’s doing so “with no agreement of what penalty will be at sentencing.”
Davis’ sentencing is May 5.