A brutal attack in Highland Park where a man violently beat his girlfriend and leaves her for dead. Now, the U.S. Marshals need your help to find him.
Latisha Battle says her ex-boyfriend snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night and tried to kill her while she was asleep in bed.
The physical wounds have healed but the emotional wounds still traumatize her family every day.
“That night, August 30, it was my birthday,” Latisha Battle said.
Latisha and her youngest daughter Ealyshia fell asleep watching movies in bed after a fun birthday celebration at their home in Highland Park.
“I blacked out, I couldn’t tell you how it happened, I do not remember at all,” Latisha said.
Latisha had no idea she would wake up, battered and bruised with a broken nose.
“It somewhat broke in half, I had stitches,” she said. “Broken nose, blind in one eye I couldn’t barely see, the right side was almost paralyzed,” she said.
With her daughter by her side Latisha says her then boyfriend of three years, Deron Davis, came into her room on a mission to kill.
“My momma, she had bruises on her face and she had blood all over her face,” Ealyshia said.
It’s been three years, but the trauma is still fresh for Latisha’s family as Deron Davis remains a fugitive.
“I try to let go but I can’t because you remember seeing your face and your face is not the way it was and you look at that scar every day,” Latisha said.
Every day she says she relives the attack.
“I was literally scared of my room because that incident happened in my room so it was like a crime scene all over again. So I was pretty scared, imagine going up the stairs and he’s still standing,” she said.
Ealyshia who was 10-years-old at the time of the attack is now 13 and was left to clean up the blood, her innocence stolen, she’s unable to sleep without fear.
“Sometimes when I go to sleep in the middle of the night I have dreams that he came back and he did it again and again and again and I’ll wake up and go in my mama’s room,” Ealyshia said.
And Davis hasn’t stopped, leaving text messages and voicemails from random phone numbers telling Latisha he’s coming back to kill her, harm her daughters and burn their house down.
“Them threats was horrible, the incident happened, I got threats that he was gonna do it again, he’s gonna repeat it, it was gonna be worse,” she said.
That’s why Deron Davis is at the top of the U.S. Marshals Most Wanted List.
“He’s from Detroit, we believe he’s still local in the area, he’s still in this area right here- we believe he’s probably going to be on the west side of Detroit,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Aaron Garcia said.
Deron Davis is 5’8” tall, 200 pounds and should be considered armed and dangerous.
“He has tattoos of his kids on his arms, on his right arm, right shoulder area of Hayden and Deron,” Garcia said.
For this family, safety and closure will not come until Davis is arrested.
“He ruined my life, he can ruin another female’s life,” Latisha said.
They’re pleading with those who know where he is to turn him in.
“Can you please turn him in because it’s not right that my mama have to go through that, so I just want him to be caught,” Ealyshia said.
Bringing joy, safety and peace to a family that has suffered for far too long.
“I keep a smile on my face but I feel like someday's I’m not supposed to smile because it hurts,” Ealyshia said.
As always there’s a cash reward for any information leading to the arrest of Deron Davis.
You can call the U.S. Marshals anytime at (313) 234-5656.
