Because of his 2021 “brutally” stabbing death of his 68-year-old neighbor, a 42-year-old man will be imprisoned for the rest of his life.
A jury convicted Jerry Gelpi of first-degree murder of Charles Davis, and on October 9, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office reported that a judge had sentenced Gelpi to life in prison plus 40 years. Gelpi will be fined $100,000 and found guilty of obstructing justice by destroying evidence.
Prosecutors claim Davis experienced COVID-19 and its “lingering effects” in the months preceding his death. After contracting the illness for the first time in April 2020, Davis needed three months in the hospital. Due to COVID-19, Davis’ live-in girlfriend passed away.
The district attorney’s office reported that although Davis survived the infection, he became “severely weakened, having lost 70 pounds,” “required auxiliary oxygen, and was undergoing long-term rehabilitation.”
According to reports, Gelpi resided in the apartment below Davis’ house. After breaking into the unit in February 2021, Gelpi attacked him in the restroom and stabbed him in the throat.
According to the prosecution, Davis was stabbed at least sixteen times by Gelpi in the bathtub after the sink fell off the wall. Davis allegedly tried to protect himself throughout the incident, as evidenced by the wounds he received to his hand.
The district attorney’s office claims that after the stabbing, Gelpi cleansed his hands in the kitchen, threw away his bloody clothes, and threw away the weapon he had used. On February 9, 2021, Davis’ daughter discovered her father’s body after he did not return her calls.
At first, Gelpi claimed to detectives that he was unaware of Davis’ passing and had not visited his residence. According to the prosecution, he gave police the name of a homeless man in the area who might be a suspect, and he “presented no hint of mental illness.”
According to the district attorney’s office, police discovered after more inquiry that Gelpi had fought with two men at a Walmart after he allegedly stepped close to them without wearing a mask.
Concerned about COVID-19, the men allegedly requested him to step further back. Gelpi allegedly intimidated the men, drew a knife, and hit one of them. One of the males used a cellphone to record the event. According to reports, Gelpi saw and ran away before being taken into custody by the police.
In a different incident, Gelpi allegedly attempted to take teeth-whitening strips from a pharmacy after slicing them open with a knife.
When Gelpi was questioned by a loss prevention officer, he allegedly took out the knife, threatened to stab him, and then ran off with the whitening strips. Gelpi’s DNA was gathered and added to a database after he was found guilty of felony robbery.
Prosecutors claim they discovered Gelpi’s DNA on the kitchen sink and beneath Davis’ fingernails. Authorities discovered a weapon in his possession and took him into custody.
Gelpi allegedly searched up information online about knife combat and stabbing individuals in the kidneys, heart, and lungs. Detectives also reportedly found five tactical knives inside Gelpi’s house. According to the prosecution, “it was only after his arrest that Gelpi began asserting mental illness,” and he entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.
“The son of God,” Gelpi allegedly declared during his trial, “was not in control of himself when he killed Davis.”
According to the district attorney’s office, Gelpi claimed that Davis was “the strongest demon in my experience,” and the defendant “pointed to detectives seated in the courtroom and said they were demons.”
Read Also:Â Cold Case Resurfaces: Remains of 16-Year-Old Girl Found in Freezer After Nearly Two Decades
Gelpi’s lawyer argued that the defendant shouldn’t be prosecuted since he was not mentally sound at the time of his attack on Davis.
Prosecutors claimed that although Gelpi was in a mental health facility, he “alleged there were demons present but otherwise exhibited no true signs of mental illness.” According to the defendant’s doctors, he was “malingering or fabricating mental illness symptoms to achieve his needs.”
Prior to the deadly stabbing, Gelpi had never received a diagnosis or treatment for a psychotic disorder; nonetheless, prosecutors claimed that he “had a history of such feigning disorders.”
According to the district attorney’s office, Gelpi joined the Navy and “faked a mental illness” in 2004 in order to get out of jail time for a criminal conviction. After being arrested for stabbing Davis to death, Gelpi allegedly “boasted about lying” to a judge about a robbery case and contacted a friend.
Read Also:Â Violence Erupts at Tennessee State University Homecoming Parade: One Dead Among 10 Injured
It was said that Gelpi informed his acquaintance that he had a substance misuse problem “to get leniency,” and that “the judge bought it.”
“You accused this man of being a demon,” said Judge Frank Brindisi to Gelpi. That day, the only demon was you.
The Sources:
