Man sentenced to 20 years for sexual, knife attacks

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

In a written statement to the court, a mother attempted to express the devastation her son and the family have endured at the hands of then-18-year-old I. Divine Davis.

The woman’s son, then 15, encountered Davis the evening of Oct. 24, 2014, on McClellan Street. Davis forced the boy at knifepoint to exchange shoes.

Davis then forced the boy to engage in a sex act.

“My son was devastated as well as my family,” the woman’s statement reads. “How could someone hurt someone in such an awful way?”

Davis, an Albany resident, on Monday received a total of 20 years in state prison for the attack on the boy, as well as the knifing of a man on Brandywine Avenue earlier that night. He pleaded guilty in September to first-degree sexual act and second-degree assault.

Judge James A. Murphy III also imposed the maximum post-release supervision allowed, 20 years.

Davis had originally agreed to a total 13-year sentence but, while free pending sentencing, got arrested in a new case. Police in Colonie accused him of possessing a stolen gun while going through cars in December.

Defendants are routinely told that if they get arrested while pending sentencing, the judge isn’t bound by the agreement and can sentence the defendant to more time.

Davis has since pleaded guilty to the Colonie charge and is to be sentenced today to three years to be served at the same time as his Schenectady sentence, his attorney Holly Trexler said.

Both the boy’s mother and prosecutor Tracey Brunecz asked Murphy for the maximum post-release supervision. Brunecz said later that Davis has been arrested twice since the original arrest in the Schenectady case, meaning he will need supervision for as long as possible.

The night of the incidents on Oct. 24, 2014, Davis first started a scuffle on Brandywine Avenue and cut a man there.

Less than an hour later, he encountered the 15-year-old boy on McClellan Street, eventually pulling him into a driveway and forcing the sexual contact.

Police had the suspect’s description, but as the boy’s family waited to give a formal statement the victim’s father decided to go out on his own to try and find the suspect himself.

The boy’s father soon found a man matching the description at the Price Chopper on Eastern Parkway and called police. The man, identified as Davis, was still wearing the boy’s shoes, Brunecz has said.

Davis gave his own lengthy statement to the court, saying he committed the crimes while under the influence of alcohol and synthetic marijuana.

After viewing videos of himself from that night, he said he didn’t recognize himself.

“What matters most is that my victims, their families and this court know that I sincerely apologize,” Davis’ statement reads. “I will never as long as I live do this again.”

Asked later about the synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, Brunecz said she doesn’t know if Davis was or wasn’t on it at the time. But she questioned whether he was also on it for his two subsequent arrests. Details of the earlier arrest weren’t available.

“My evidence shows that he knew exactly what he was doing,” Brunecz said. “Whether he was on K2 or not, he knew what he was doing. He was on a crime spree that night.”

The mother of Davis’ victim told the court her son continues to be haunted by that night.

Once an outgoing kid, he limits who he is with and is constantly wary of his environment, she said.

She also expressed gratitude to the boy’s father, as well as the police department, witnesses and others who had a hand in bringing Davis to justice.

“I am forever grateful to all, and today will bring a little bit more closure for my son and our family knowing that the person responsible is being held accountable for his actions.”