A man charged with killing an employee and customer at a downtown Jefferson City restaurant and bar this weekend has made his initial court appearance in Cole County Circuit Court.
35-year-old Damien Davis of Kansas City is charged with two counts of first degree murder for the shooting deaths of J. Pfenny’s employee Skyler Smock and customer Corey Thames. Davis was arraigned via video in Cole County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon.
Court documents obtained by 939 the Eagle at the Cole County Courthouse say there were “several dozen patrons” inside J Pfenny’s during the early Saturday morning incident. The Jefferson City Police Department’s probable cause statement says it began as an altercation between Davis and Thames, and that Smock separated the two and tried to escort Thames out of the business. Court documents say Davis then shot Skyler Smock in the back of the head and shot Thames multiple times in his upper torso and chest areas.
The victims’ bodies were found near the restaurant’s entrance, and court documents quote witnesses as telling police that Davis had a “smirk” on his face when he walked past their bodies. A judge has ordered Davis to be jailed without bond.
The court documents quote the suspect as telling Jefferson City Police that he was only in Missouri’s capital city due to the holidays. Davis is from Kansas City.
