BALTIMORE — Baltimore boxing champion Gervonta Davis pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a November 2020 hit-and-run crash that left four people injured.
His sentencing is set for May 5.
Davis’ plea agreement brings to a conclusion legal troubles in Baltimore that loomed over him for more than two years while his boxing career soared.
Almost five months after the Nov. 5, 2020 crash that injured four people, police and prosecutors brought dozens of traffic charges — from failing to return to the scene of a vehicle crash involving injury to driving without a license.
Around 2 a.m. that morning, Davis left the Medusa Restaurant & Lounge in downtown Baltimore and got behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, according to his charging documents.
Eventually, he ran a red light at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Washington boulevards and struck the passenger’s side of a 2004 Toyota Solara. Police and prosecutors say Davis fled before the four occupants of the Toyota were taken to the hospital for cuts, bruises and sprains.
Investigators pieced together the boxer’s actions that morning by reviewing CitiWatch, red light and private security camera footage from the area around the crash.
It looked like his case was coming to a conclusion in December, when his attorney and prosecutors presented city Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn with an agreement they’d struck which would’ve seen Davis serve 60 days of unsupervised home detention.
But, moved by the testimony of a woman injured in the crash, Phinn rejected the plea deal and ordered the lawyers to prepare for trial. Jyair Smith, who is also pursuing a lawsuit against Davis, told the judge her knee was seriously injured in the crash, leaving her unable to play with her children or work normally despite several rounds of physical therapy.
“He looked me in the eyes, and he never came over to help,” Smith said of Davis.
According to charging documents, the Lamborghini Davis was driving crashed into a fence on the property of a 7-Eleven after colliding with the other car.
A camera from the business showed him help a woman from the passenger’s seat of the sports car before a black Chevrolet Camaro picked them up.
Footage showed Davis and the woman get out of the Camaro in the valet area of the Four Seasons hotel downtown and walk inside.
Arrested in December for domestic violence, Florida online court records show, Davis has battery charges pending in Broward County. The woman who accused Davis of assaulting her walked back the allegations through her lawyer in the days after Davis’ arrest.
On Jan. 8, Davis defeated Hector Luis Garcia by TKO, defending his World Boxing Association lightweight championship.
