-Press Release, Office of District Attorney Mike Waters

Warrenton, NC – Marquis Davis pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder and Assault with a Deadly Weapon with the Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury, in the 2015 murder of Michael Pressley in Warren County. The acts occurred in the early morning hours of August 9, 2015, when six men from Oxford, including Michael Pressley and Jerry Henderson, traveled to the Connect 25 nightclub in Warren County.

As the six men were leaving Connect 25, they were fired upon by individuals traveling in a GMC Sierra truck driven by Marquis Davis and also occupied by Kadeem Grooms, Darren Alston and Montrell Davis. Michael Pressley, a passenger in a Chevy Tahoe, was shot and died as a result of his wounds. Jerry Henderson, the driver of the Chevy Tahoe, was shot in the back and was treated for his injuries at Maria Parham Hospital.

Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Henry W. Hight, Jr. sentenced Mr. Davis to 157-201 months active in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. This case was scheduled for trial the week of September 4, 2018, in Warren County Criminal Superior Court, however, the plea was entered in Vance County Criminal Case Management Court on Thursday, August 23, 2018. Darren Alston and Montrell Davis previously plead in the matter, and Kadeem Grooms was convicted by a Warren County jury of First Degree Murder and related charges during the week of April 30, 2018.

This matter was investigated by the Warren County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.