Minot, North Dakota — A jury found Delon Davis guilty on all four charges related to the murder of Mark Ramon McMillan Jr. during a trial that concluded Thursday at the Ward County Courthouse. The incident in question occurred on April 3, 2024, and followed a week of testimonies that wrapped up a day earlier.
The charges against Davis included intentional or knowing murder of an adult victim, which is classified as a Class AA felony, as well as tampering with physical evidence, unlawful possession of a firearm due to prior felony status, both classified as Class C felonies, and making false statements to law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
During her closing arguments, Deputy Ward County State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen outlined the prosecution’s narrative, asserting that the evidence pointed to Davis shooting McMillan at a downtown Minot establishment before hiding the victim’s body in a basement boiler room. She contended that the defendant’s actions were deliberate, stating, “The state believes you will find that this defendant intentionally shot Mark Ramon McMillan, killed him dead, then proceeded to hide the body.”
Defense attorney David Dusek focused his arguments on questioning the investigation conducted by the Minot Police Department. He claimed the police had not adequately explored Davis’s account and pointed to several omissions in the evidence presented during the trial. Dusek mentioned that the testimony from a key witness, William Weber, lacked credibility due to inconsistencies in Weber’s statements made to investigators.
Dusek further criticized the police’s failure to locate McMillan’s body during their search of the establishment two weeks after the murder, citing the absence of ballistic evidence and questioning the omission of another individual’s cell phone records in the inquiry. He argued that these oversights indicated a lack of thoroughness in the investigation.
In the defense’s view, Davis’s actions were a response to a perceived threat from McMillan, who he claimed had threatened him during their ongoing conflict. Dusek insisted that the shooting was justified under self-defense laws, suggesting that Davis’s possession of a firearm, though illegal for him, was necessary due to the circumstances he faced.
In rebuttal, Sorgen refuted Dusek’s criticisms, labeling them as distractions intended to instill doubt in the jury. She emphasized that investigators had conducted a comprehensive examination of the evidence. Concerning the ballistic evidence, she noted that it was lost because Davis had disposed of the firearm following the incident.
Sorgen also defended the investigative process, asserting that law enforcement had attempted to get the truth out of Davis but were consistently misled. She underscored the defendant’s opportunities to come clean about the evidence that remained undisclosed, saying, “He had every opportunity to tell them there was another room back there with a dead body in it.”
After several hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict at around 3:30 p.m., leaving Davis facing a potential life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder charge. Judge Douglas Mattson, who will continue to oversee the case despite his upcoming retirement, has ordered a pre-sentence investigation, but a sentencing date has yet to be determined.
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