Kourtney Davis

On April 6, 2025, a family returning from vacation was met with an unimaginable horror. Elauntra Sutton had left her 9-year-old daughter, Ayva, and 4-year-old son in the care of her mother and sister. When she couldn't reach them on her way home to Detroit, she saw a news report about a vehicle fire and recognized her mother’s car. Her father later found the 4-year-old boy home alone. In an alley near 30th and Milford streets on the city’s west side, authorities discovered a burned-out SUV containing the remains of three people. They were identified as 23-year-old Kourtney Davis, a Black woman, her 44-year-old mother, Sandra Davis, and her 9-year-old niece, Ayva Sutton.

The bodies were burned beyond recognition, but the investigation soon revealed the brutal nature of their deaths. Authorities believe that Kourtney and Sandra Davis had been shot and that young Ayva had been stabbed before the vehicle was set on fire. The loss of three generations at once sent a shockwave of grief through their family and community. "My heart is shattered as I share the tragic loss of three of the most cherished members of my family," Elauntra Sutton wrote in a public post. At a vigil, another relative, Kara Davis, said, "We all grew up as siblings... to lose three... It's like our whole life."

Investigators quickly identified a person of interest: Edward Redding, a 29-year-old from River Rouge who was Kourtney Davis’s ex-boyfriend. Using footage from a license plate reader, police connected Redding's vehicle to the car where the victims were found. On the same day the bodies were discovered, police attempted to pull Redding over. He allegedly fled, leading officers on a high-speed chase and running red lights before he was apprehended.

A search of Redding's vehicle at the time of his arrest uncovered a firearm. While he was not charged in the triple homicide, he faced other serious allegations. Federal authorities charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office also charged him with third-degree fleeing and eluding, as well as resisting and obstructing a police officer.

In September 2025, Edward Redding pleaded guilty to the federal felon-in-possession firearm charge. A more significant development came in February 2026, when federal prosecutors filed a sentencing memorandum for that crime. In the document, they formally identified Redding as the likely killer in the triple homicide. However, as of February 2026, state murder charges have not been filed, and the investigation into the deaths of Kourtney Davis, Sandra Davis, and Ayva Sutton remains ongoing.