An Alaska man accused of fatally shooting his 87-year-old grandmother at her Fairbanks home told police he “didn’t want her to worry” – likening the killing to “pulling the plug,” according to court records.
Brian Davenport, 29, was arrested earlier this week and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of Velma Koontz, who was found shot in the back of the head while seated in her wheelchair inside her home.
On Wednesday, Davenport appeared via livestream at the Fairbanks Courthouse, where the deceased’s son, George Koontz, urged the court not to release the suspect, citing concerns about his behavior, according to KTUU.
“He’s a danger to the public,” George Koontz said. “Obviously, he assaulted his mother last summer and now my mother.”
Fairbanks police officers were called to the home in the 1000 block of 22nd Avenue at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday after Koontz’s husband, Keith, reported finding his wife dead.
Koontz’s husband told officers he had gone to the store and returned to find his handgun outside the home and his wife “deceased inside the residence, seated in her wheelchair.”
“Officers made contact with the victim’s grandson, Brian Davenport, and he immediately stated that he had killed someone,” police wrote in a news release.
“Davenport was transported to FPD for questioning and, after being advised of his rights, admitted to stealing his grandfather’s handgun and killing his grandmother. He stated that he had initially planned to kill someone else but changed his mind and killed his grandmother instead.”
Davenport reportedly told investigators that he wanted his grandmother to die “peacefully” and said he “didn’t want her to worry about the legacy she left behind.”
He admitted that he knew “killing someone is wrong,” but compared his actions “to pulling the plug on a person,” according to police. Detectives later learned that Koontz had been diagnosed with cancer and was under hospice care.
“The grandma obviously had some health issues, whether that was the motivation behind the killing, we don’t know,” Fairbanks Police Chief Ron Dupee, per AlaskaNewsSource.
Less than an hour before Koontz’s body was discovered, Davenport had called 911 and provided an address but did not respond to the dispatcher’s questions, according to charging documents obtained by KTVF.
An officer located Davenport who was pacing along the side of a roadway, acting erratically. He was transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital before being taken into custody.
Davenport was booked into the Fairbanks Correctional Center and is being held on a $5 million bail.
He is scheduled to be back in court on January 30.
