Man sentenced to life in prison for murder of girlfriend’s 7-month-old son

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte man was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend’s 7-month-old son and was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

Zaki Davis was found guilty of first-degree murder after the death of Israel Williams in 2021. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In December of 2021, Davis was in charge of supervising and providing care for Williams at his home on Corbett Square Lane. Davis was dating Williams’ mother and was caring for him while she was at work, prosecutors said.

Davis fed Williams and texted pictures to the baby’s mother throughout the evening, according to court documents.

With Davis was his mother. Just before 9:30 p.m., Davis sent a picture of his mother holding Williams to the baby’s mother.

Then, Davis and Williams were alone upstairs, according to court documents. About 30 minutes later, Williams was unresponsive, having suffered abusive head trauma that was intentionally inflicted by Davis, prosecutors said.

Officials said that Davis had searched “baby acting lifeless” and “baby not responding but heart is” on his phone before calling 911 just before 10 p.m.

Williams was transported to a children’s hospital, where he died.

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