Police: Garner Teen Killed by Vehicle

GARNER, N.C. — Three years after a Garner teen was killed while waiting by the side of a road for a friend, police said Thursday that they have new leads in his death.

Josh Davis, 16, was killed at about 7 p.m. Jan. 6, 2004, after something hit him in the head along Hall Boulevard in Garner. The case has baffled his family and investigators since then because no one has been able to determine what killed him and whether it was accidental or intentional.

Garner police said Thursday that they have concluded Davis was struck by a car that night. The determination was based on the findings of a private forensics firm and a review of the case by Garner investigators and the State Bureau of Investigation.

The forensics firm reconstructed the events that led to Davis' death and analyzed his wounds and blood spatters at the scene.

Based on the determination, the medical examiner has reclassified the cause of death as a vehicle-pedestrian crash.

Davis was likely hit by a bumper, mirror or some other object attached to the vehicle, police said. The driver might not have seen Davis on the street, but should have known he or she hit something based on the impact, police said.

Dave Davis told WRAL he took some comfort knowing that his son died in an accident and wasn't the victim of a violent crime.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the investigative division of the Garner Police Department at 919-772-8810 or the State Bureau of Investigation at 800-334-3000. A $10,000 reward is being offered in the case.