16-year old Texas girl shot and killed to keep her from testifying about rape

Shania Gray, age 16

Franklin B. Davis, 30, was angry that he previous babysitter, 16-year old Shania Gray, was going to testify against him for raping her.  So he friended her on social media under a false identity, then lured her to a nighttime meeting.  He then drove her to a secluded spot in Carrollton, Texas, shot her twice with a .38-caliber handgun, and killed her.

From an article:

Carrollton police say Davis confessed to arranging a meeting with Gray under false pretenses, driving her to a trail near the river and shooting her twice with a .38-caliber pistol. According to an arrest affidavit, Gray fell into the river and called Davis by his nickname: "Why, Wish?" 

Davis told police he then stepped on her neck until she stopped breathing, the affidavit said. 

Carrollton police spokesman Jon Stovall said in an email that police believe Davis killed Gray because she was about to testify against him. 

A spokeswoman for Gray's family, Sherry Ramsey, told The Dallas Morning News that Gray met Davis when she babysat his two children. Ramsey said that later, after the teen declined many requests to babysit, Gray told her grandmother that Davis had raped her. 

The crime was reported to Mesquite police, and Davis was charged with four counts of sexual assault of a child. 

Ramsey said Davis had warned Gray he would kill her if she told anyone about the assault. 

According to an arrest warrant, Davis contacted Gray through social media and pretended to be someone else in an attempt to get information about the sexual assault case. Davis then used a pre-paid cellphone to set up a meeting with Gray at her high school on Thursday. 

Davis told WFAA-TV in a jailhouse interview that he tracked Gray down because he wanted to prove his innocence in the sexual assault case. 

"I needed to get some kind of evidence, some kind of proof myself to show I did not have sex with her and that she's lying," Davis told the television station. 

Davis told authorities that Gray was surprised to see him but got into his car when he told her he wanted to talk to her about the sexual assault case. He said he then drove her to the remote area. 

Stovall said police believe Gray was killed within an hour after she was picked up.

(a related article).