Man allegedly stole grandfather’s handgun, shot 87-year-old grandmother in her wheelchair

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (TCN) – A 29-year-old man has been charged with murder after his grandmother was found shot to death. 

On Jan. 20, a man returned from the store and found his revolver outside his home and his wife, 87-year-old Velma Koontz, dead her in wheelchair with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, the Fairbanks Police Department announced.

911 operators say they received a call an hour earlier from a man who gave them an address but did not answer their questions, KTUU reports. Responding officers found Brian Davenport, 29, pacing outside along the road. 

According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Anchorage Daily News, an officer took him to a hospital on an involuntary mental health hold because it was believed Davenport could not take care of himself.

While Davenport was at the hospital, police became aware of Koontz’s death and of Davenport’s connection to her, KTUU reports. When asked, Davenport allegedly told the officer he had killed someone.

During his police interview, Davenport allegedly compared shooting Koontz to “pulling the plug” and said she had cancer and was in hospice care, according to KTUU. Davenport allegedly told officers he had stolen his grandfather’s gun with plans to kill someone else but changed his mind and decided to kill his grandmother instead so she “wouldn’t have to worry.”

Davenport was arrested on a first-degree murder charge and taken into custody, where he remains on $5 million bail, per KTUU. 

At his first hearing on Jan. 21, Koontz’s son George said Davenport is a danger to the public and that he had also assaulted his mother the previous summer, the Independent reports. Davenport is scheduled to appear again in court on Jan. 30. 

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