More than 20 years after her son was killed in a hit-and-run in Garner, Judy Creech is feeling hopeful that her son's cold case is heating up.
Her son, Josh Davis, was killed in 2004 on Hall Boulevard in Garner. He was 16 years old. Police said he and a friend had just left his mother's house and were walking along the road around 7 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2024, to get to his father's home in the same neighborhood.
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The friend of Davis said he ran back to his mother's house to get a CD and a shirt. When he came back, he found Davis on the side of the road. Three years after his death, investigators concluded that Davis was hit by a car and died from his injuries.
Creech said she has been waiting for a break in the case for more than 20 years, calling the slow progress on the investigation "disappointing."
"We want this to come to an end," Creech said.
Creech said what helped move the case forward years later were "bloggers and crime junkies" digging into the case, giving new momentum to the North Carolina SBI and Garner Police Department last fall.
That new momentum led to a new person of interest: an officer with the Four Oaks Police Department.
“When I found that out, that was a big catch of my breath. I really could not get over that,” Creech said.
On Monday, the Department’s chief confirmed an officer is a person of interest in the 2004 homicide, and has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Garner Police Department. The investigation started on April 16.
WRAL News is not naming the officer, pending official confirmation. A warrant revealed authorities worked off a tip from a former spouse of the officer and labeled the officer as a suspect.
Creech said that when she learned the identity of the person of interest, she was left shocked, claiming that her son and the person of interest knew each other.
"They were friends," Creech said.
She was even more surprised when she realized that friend had signed the guest book at her son’s funeral.
“It’s just mind blowing,” Creech said.
Creech said now, she wants that former friend and person of interest to understand the questions she’s had to live with about her son.
"Was he scared? Did they bully him? Did they say things, you know, it's like, what was his last five or 10 minutes like, you know?" she said.
Creech said the only way to answer those painful questions is for the person of interest to help police close the case.
"I think that if they were to do that and bring the other people forward," Creech said. "I think I seriously could forgive because to me, that would be such a huge gift. I seriously would call it a gift."
WRAL News has reached out to the Garner Police Department on Creech's claim that the speed of the investigation was too slow and did not immediately hear back.
