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Walter Lee Davis appears in a booking photo, April 2024 (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office).
A septuagenarian Florida man was recently arrested after allegedly repeatedly striking his wife of some 55 years in the face and head — all because she refused to let him behind the wheel of their car.
Walter Lee Davis, 78, stands accused of one count of battery on a person over the age of 65, according to a criminal complaint and arrest affidavit filed in the case and obtained by Law&Crime.
“Shut up and stop it,” the defendant told his wife as she spoke with a 911 dispatcher in Pinellas County, the affidavit alleges.
The violence occurred in the afternoon on April 12, according to the Largo Police Department. Law enforcement responded to the scene of the “domestic related” incident by 2:42 p.m. that day.
An arriving officer described the living room of the Davis residence on 8th Avenue in Largo as having “things tossed around as if from a struggle,” according to the affidavit. The victim, identified as Annie Davis, 78, “had a cut on her nose and a cut on her left eye” as well as “a contusion to the back right of her head that was visibly red.”
She was transported to a nearby hospital for a medical evaluation. Additionally, the responding officer documented the victim’s injuries using the camera on a department-issued cellphone.
“The victim advised that this had started because the defendant wanted to drive their vehicle,” the affidavit reads. “But she did not allow him to because he was not supposed to drive.”
Walter Davis was read his Miranda rights “from a department-issued Miranda card” before an attempted police interrogation, police say. The defendant availed himself of those rights and declined to speak with law enforcement about the incident, according to the affidavit.
Still, police suggest that physical evidence also tied him to the violence.
“The defendant had dried blood on his left leg but did not any injuries sustained to himself,” the affidavit reads.
It is presently unclear why the defendant is allegedly not supposed to drive an automobile. Law&Crime reached out to the arresting agency for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming as of the time of publication. Walter Davis does not have any prior criminal or traffic records in Pinellas County, according to the local court system.
Walter Davis was originally being detained in the Pinellas County Jail with no bond, according to the affidavit. On the evening of April 13, he was released on $2,500 bond, jail records show. As a condition of his bond, Walter Davis is not allowed to have any direct or indirect contact with his wife, according to Pinellas County court records.
Law&Crime reached out to the accused man’s defense counsel but no response was immediately forthcoming as of time of publication.
The defendant faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in a Sunshine State prison if convicted as presently charged.
