“Willow,” a black and white female pit bull beloved by her owners, didn’t seem destined to become a key figure in a murder investigation. But that’s exactly what happened. It was August 12, 2023, when the dog became known to law enforcement in New Haven, Indiana.
That morning, the police would hear about Willow and how she was a protective guard dog. But they didn’t want to meet her. And that’s one of many places where this story gets fascinating, as correspondent Peter Van Sant reports in “A Death in the Stairwell,” an all-new “48 Hours” now streaming on Paramount+.
Willow was owned by Kevin and Alison Davis, a married couple. Steve Krause, Alison Davis’ father, tells Van Sant how much Kevin and Alison loved each other, calling each other “baby”. Alison Davis’ best friend, Kasey Klemm, says they were a happy couple who danced together in the kitchen. Krause explains: “They didn’t have children, so the dog was… like a child” to them. Their friend, Jason Young, says Willow was “a big barker and kind of intimidating at first,” but within “two minutes the dog stopped caring about you.”
The night Kevin Davis was injured, he and Alison Davis were together at a local tavern. Friends and tavern staff say it was a typical night and they seemed happy when they returned home around 1 a.m. Alison Davis would later tell police that when they got home, she and Kevin had an argument, so she went to sleep on a couch downstairs. Kevin Davis headed to their bedroom upstairs – where Willow was also. Alison Davis says she was woken up by a loud noise. She said she found Kevin Davis unconscious, face down, in a large pool of blood. Alison Davis would tell a 911 operator and first responders that Kevin Davis had fallen down the stairs.
After emergency responders transported Kevin Davis to the hospital, Det. James Krueger would interview Alison Davis. She signed documents authorizing police to enter and search the house. But Alison Davis warned the detective about Willow: “She’s a guard dog. I don’t know if she would do anything, and I don’t want anything to happen to her,” Alison Davis said.
Krueger told him he would not enter that room. He said when he went upstairs, “I could hear the dog walking around in there… So I opened the door… I got teeth and growls and everything.” And there was no way that dog was going to let me in that room. Krueger looked around the rest of the house. He felt that “everything had been checked out” and that Alison Davis’ story was true – it was a tragic and fatal fall.
Kevin Davis suffered significant traumatic head injuries. He wouldn’t survive another day. Family and friends say Alison Davis was devastated by the loss of the husband she loved. But the police have come to think differently. Four months later, Indiana authorities would charge Alison Davis with murder. Detective Krueger concluded: “This is a woman who lost her mind and beat her husband to death.” Authorities say she used an improvised weapon, such as an exercise weight, possibly a baseball bat. But no weapon was ever found.
After 17 months of incarceration, Alison Davis – who has always maintained her innocence – would be tried for murder. In just six hours, the jury would deliver its verdict. Alison Davis is not guilty.
Krueger, who had been promoted to police chief, believes the verdict might have been different if he had just walked into Willow’s room that August morning. “I think this dog may have been intentionally put in this room to keep me out,” Krueger told Van Sant. Krueger adds that there could have been “the blunt object…in that room…something in that room that would have helped in the case.”
After the trial, a juror told Van Sant that the prosecution’s case “had many holes.” And that there were good reasons why the jury voted to acquit Alison Davis. Still, Police Chief Krueger says he’ll always wonder if there could have been a murder weapon in Willow’s room.
“There’s no proof… It’s unbelievable. Such injustice,” Krause says. “It’s strictly an accident.”
Alison Davis is free and now lives with her mother and father. She’s trying to rebuild her life, without Kevin, the man who, according to her father, always called her “baby.” And at his side, as she always has been, is Willow.
