Guilty of one murder, Tampa man claims innocence, but seems to admit another

TAMPA — One jury this month found Keith Gaillard not guilty of the murder of India Clarke, but another found him guilty of the murder of Tyrone Davis.

On Friday, as he stood in a Tampa courtroom to receive a mandatory life sentence, Gaillard claimed he didn’t kill Davis. But he acknowledged that he’d made to a psychologist what sounded like a confession — only to the killing of Clarke.

Standing in handcuffs and red jail garb, Gaillard, 24, said he wanted Davis’ family to know what happened. He then gave a rambling speech in which he appeared to blame the murder on another man, who’d been with him in Davis’ car. Gaillard seemed to say that he only helped move Davis’ body and clean up the murder. He professed his innocence and lamented that he is facing prison because he “didn’t tell on somebody.”

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Samantha Ward asked if he forgotten what he told a forensic psychologist, who examined him in preparation for his sentencing hearing. The judge then read from a report what sounded like Gaillard’s account of shooting a man and taking his money.

“That was pertaining to the India Clarke incident,” Gaillard clarified. “That was not referring to Tyrone Davis.”

“So you got convicted of the wrong murder?” Ward asked.

“That’s all I got to say,” Gaillard said. “Either way, I’m going to get life. So it don’t matter.”

The bizarre exchange occurred moments after Davis’ family members delivered emotional testimony, speaking of anger, but also forgiveness.

“I know you are young, and I know you have a long life ahead of you,” said the victim’s sister, Summer Davis. “I need you to serve your sentence and while you’re serving your sentence, when you wake up every morning, I want you to think of my brother, Tyrone Sean Davis. He can no longer wake up every morning.”

“I set you free so that you can find peace,” said Barbara Davis, the victim’s mother. “And I pray that you do. I pray you will come to grips with the crime you committed and ask God to forgive you.”

Davis, 46, was found shot in the head the morning of July 26, 2015, in Temple Crest Park in northeast Tampa. He was last seen leaving his job that morning at a Cody’s Roadhouse restaurant in Wesley Chapel. He drove off in his silver Chevrolet Impala.

The car was later found abandoned in a field in east Tampa. Gaillard’s wallet and driver’s license were lying on the center console. A pair of Gucci athletic shorts were in the back seat. They had Davis’ blood on them. DNA from the waistband matched Gaillard.

When investigators linked him to the crime, Gaillard was already in jail facing a murder charge related to the death of India Clarke, days earlier.

Clarke, 25, was found shot the morning of July 21, 2015, in University Area Community Park. Although evidence indicated that Gaillard and Clarke may have been together at some point, a defense attorney argued that there was not enough evidence to prove that he was her killer. A jury agreed.

Before he was sentenced in the Davis case, the defense argued that the judge should consider that Gaillard was only 18 when the crime occurred. Had it happened just nine months earlier, the criminal justice system would have treated him as a juvenile; his sentence would be one that allowed him the opportunity for eventual release.

But because he was legally an adult, the only possible penalty was a lifetime of incarceration without the possibility of parole.

In a written argument, Assistant Public Defender Dana Herce-Fulgueira offered a scholarly look at modern advances in brain science, which has shown that young minds are not fully formed even into early adulthood. She also detailed the evolving jurisprudence in the way the criminal justice system treats young offenders.

“During this period of late adolescence, young people often lack the experience, perspective and judgment to recognize and avoid choices that could be detrimental to them,” Herce-Fulgueira wrote.

Sheila Rapa, a forensic psychologist, testified about Gaillard’s troubled upbringing, recounting that his family was sometimes homeless during his childhood, that he turned to selling drugs as a kid, and that he was a victim of horrific abuse.

Finding no legal basis to divert from the mandatory sentence, the judge gave Gaillard life.

But before it was final, the defendant spoke again. He disputed what the psychologist had said about his background.

“I never told her none of that stuff,” he said.