A Dallas man who admitted in court to killing 16-year-old Shania Gray was sentenced to death Saturday morning.
While Franklin Davis of Mesquite sat on the stand, he described to the jury how he coaxed Gray into his car in front of her school, then shot her and threw her remains into a nearby river.
Davis repeatedly raped Gray two years prior.
According to CBS' affiliate station in Dallas, Davis maintained in court that he murdered Gray because he despised her, not due to the fact that his sexual assault case involving the teenage girl was approaching trial. But Gray died just shy of a month before she was due to testify against Davis.
Gray's mother spoke during the murder trial to recount the devastating occurrence that struck her family.
"My daughter was brutally taken away because of someone who was a coward, having my daughter's integrity questioned..." Sherry Gray-Green said. "All of this loss is just compound."
Sherry told law enforcement officials in Mesquite that Davis, better known as "Wish," exposed himself and had sex with the teenager four times while she babysat his children in 2011.
When Davis made his statement, he told the court that he sought revenge from the teen after she pursued legal action concerning the assaults.
"She lied. She ruined my life," Davis said. "She took everything from me, everything I work so hard to get. She took it."
A St. Louis detective who testified during the trial said that Davis experienced a particularly traumatic and violent childhood as part of an explanation for his acts.
Throughout the trial, Davis insisted he did not rape Gray.
