Mae Dean Davin Obituary, Death; – A man reportedly stated that he awoke to find his mother deceased within their residence, only to subsequently confess to the shooting while alone in a police interrogation room.
Nathan Douglas Davin, aged 46, was charged on Tuesday with the deliberate second-degree murder of Mae Dean Davin, aged 74, at their East Hillside home on Saturday night.
The victim was allegedly asleep in a recliner when she was shot once in the face at close range inside her property located at 1511 N. Ninth Ave. E., as per court documents.
While a potential motive has not been publicly disclosed, Nathan Davin was said to be exhibiting erratic behavior, and investigators reported finding the phrase “go to hell” spray-painted on a surface within the house, along with “numerous other satanic symbols and phrases.”
According to court records:
Nathan Davin knocked on a neighbor’s door around 10:50 p.m., mentioning something regarding a fatality. A person who was housesitting at that moment contacted 911, observing that Davin seemed intoxicated and was only dressed in boxers.
Before the officers arrived, he also communicated with the neighbor, stating: “My mom’s dead. She blew her head off.”
Police encountered Davin on the front porch of his residence and questioned him about some apparent blood on his hands. He responded, “I found my mom f—ing dead,” suggesting he had just awakened and discovered her in the living room.
Officers entered the house and found Mae Dean Davin in the chair with a “devastating gunshot wound.” A spent shell casing was discovered on the floor, and a bullet was located near the exit wound. No firearm was found in the vicinity.
During a search of the residence, investigators uncovered two pistols in Nathan Davin’s upstairs bedroom, along with several other firearms in an unlocked safe.
A Glock 9 mm was located on a nightstand with apparent blood on it, and nearby officers discovered a box of ammunition that corresponded with the rounds in the pistol, as well as the spent shell casing and bullet from the main floor.
After Davin was placed in the back of a patrol car, he was heard making several spontaneous utterances, including “wake up to bulls—” and “there went my life.”
The suspect was taken to the Public Safety Building, where his bloodied boxers and other physical evidence were collected. He declined to speak with investigators and requested a lawyer, but a recording from the interview room captured him stating: “God damn it, I killed my mother.”
St. Louis County prosecutor Kirstyn Oye told the court Mae Dean Davin “was positioned in her recliner in a way that indicated she was sleeping” when she was shot. She requested the court set bail at $750,000 and deny any supervised release option.
Nathan Davin was convicted of fifth-degree domestic assault in 2005, but his history otherwise is limited to several impaired driving cases and a handful of other nonviolent offenses.
The case is the third homicide reported in Duluth this year. In the past five years, more than half of the city’s homicides have involved domestic violence.
