Godfrey gets 25 years for murder of Davis

A Marionville received 25 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Jamie Lee Godfrey, 31, made the plea on Wednesday, Sept. 28 as part of a deal with prosecutors. In return for his guilty plea, Godfrey’s original charge of first-degree murder was reduced to second-degree murder, and another charge of armed criminal action was dismissed. Godfrey’s case, originally tried in Lawrence County, was transferred to Newton County on a change of venue in January of this year.
Godfrey killed Jess Davis, 50, also of Marionville, on Sept. 14, 2021. According to the probable cause statement, a member of the Aurora-Marionville Police Department was called to Davis’s residence on Central Street, where he was met by a witness who said he was Davis’s roommate. The man said he left the residence to help a friend, and Godfrey was there at the time. When he returned, the man said, Godfrey met him outside of the house and said he (Godfrey) had hurt Davis.
The roommate said he went inside the residence and found Davis lying in a pool of blood. He told the officer that he then went back outside, groin-kicked Godfrey and told him to say away from him, after which Godfrey ran south on Central Street. There was no indication given in the probable cause statement as to why Godfrey killed Davis, but in his guilty plea, Godfrey said he killed Davis when the two of them got into an “altercation.”
After other officers arrived on the scene, the residence was secured. Davis was observed to be lying on the floor of the northeast bedroom “{with his hands up near his chest, just below his neck and both of his legs crossed at the ankles.” A large pool of blood was under his body, and there was a laceration on the front of his neck. Another possible laceration was found in front of his abdomen, near his naval.
A trail of blood led from the bedroom to the kitchen, where a black knife, which appeared to have been recently cleaned, was found in the sink. There was also blood around the sink.
The officer also reported that dispatch told them that a relative of Godfrey’s had called them; the relative reported that Godfrey had been at the relative’s residence, where he told them he had done something bad and wouldn’t see them again for a long time. Godfrey was captured the next day in Stone County.
At the time Godfrey made his guilty plea, he was already incarcerated in the Jefferson City Correctional Center after he was found to be in violation of the terms of his probation; he had earlier convictions for vehicle tampering, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to serve sentences of four year for the tampering charges, and three years each on the other two charges. He is serving his sentences concurrently for those crimes; it was not immediately clear if his sentence for the murder charge would be served consecutively or concurrently with his earlier sentences.
According to unofficial court records, Godfrey was given credit for the 379 days he spent awaiting trial for murdering Davis.