False drive-by report leads to charges

Published 6:16 am Tuesday, June 15, 2010

An Austin man was charged Friday for accidentally shooting his friend — who lied and said he was the victim of a drive-by — in the foot.

Bryan Dominic Lavern Ray, 20, is now wanted on a Mower County warrant, which was filed along with the complaint.

According to records, the incident in question occurred May 11. The victim, 20-year-old Deonte Davenport, was treated at the Austin Medical Center for an apparent gunshot wound to his left big toe.

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Officers spoke with Davenport at AMC that night. He said he was in the Bremerton Townhomes parking lot in the 300 block of 27th Street Southwest at around midnight when he heard a firecracker-like noise, then felt pain in his foot. A few others in the area, who also reported hearing something akin to a firecracker, drove Davenport to AMC.

Davenport said he saw a vehicle driving away from the area, but he did not provide any details on suspects. Police were also unable to locate any shells in the parking lot, according to records, and witnesses on-scene did not provide any useful information.

However, a day later, an 18-year-old woman called Mower County Correctional Services and said Ray accidentally shot Davenport. That information was forwarded along to law enforcement.

On May 17, police met with the Bremerton apartment manager, who said that several tenants had reported that the incident had occurred inside a unit, according to a criminal complaint. The woman who had called correctional services a few days earlier corroborated the story, saying that Ray had shot Davenport in the kitchen but that it was an accident.

She added that she was in the residence with her sister at the time, but noted that only Ray and Davenport were in the kitchen. The woman said Ray had come over and wanted to show Davenport something, so the two men went into the kitchen. Moments later, both sisters heard a gun shot, according to the complaint.

The woman said she then saw Davenport hopping around on one foot, yelling that he had been shot.

Police searched the apartment on May 19 and found a bullet hole in the kitchen, according to the complaint.

In addition to the firearm charges, Ray is also wanted for a separate incident in which he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend — the same woman who reported the circumstances of the May 11 shooting to authorities — and stole her purse.

According to a criminal complaint, this incident occurred on April 30 in the 300 block of First Street Southwest. The report states that Ray cut off a car that the woman was driving in, got out, and proceeded to pull the woman from the car and beat and choke her. He then allegedly took her purse and left the scene.

The report states that Davenport was a passenger in the woman’s car and that he unlocked the doors so that Ray could pull her out.