It was found that a man in Wisconsin killed a stranger by punching him out while he was on a date with his wife. The reason was the stranger’s tattoos.
Joshua Davies, 39, was killed in an attack outside of Tabi’s Lake Country Wine Bar in Hartland, Wisconsin, on June 17, 2023. Kevin Sehmer, 65, was found guilty on Thursday of felony murder by battery. A little over 30 miles west of Milwaukee is Hartland.
According to WITI, a Fox station in Milwaukee, Sehmer told Davis, “You’re a sinner” and “you’re going to hell” that night because he was “looking for a fight.”
In her closing statement, Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper said, “As soon as he saw Joshua Davis, he took issue with how he looked.” Sehmer told the police officer that “he didn’t like him from the start,” she said.
Jennifer Davies, Davies’s widow, told the judge that what began as a great date night turned into the worst night of her life because of something incredibly pointless.
Davies told the judge, “I just remember right away when the boys walked in him talking very loudly about their tattoos.”
Davies was punched and hit his head on the ground outside the bar, according to Law&Crime. He had two skull fractures and bleeding on the brain.
When an officer arrived at the scene around 11 p.m. that night, he saw Davies lying on the ground in the 100 block of East Capitol Drive. He was having trouble staying awake. Police say he was taken to the hospital and admitted with serious injuries.
The next day, Sehmer was arrested and charged with one crime count of aggravated battery. This charge was later increased after Davies died on July 12, 2023.
Scott Schiro, the defense lawyer, tried to say that Sehmer was just trying to protect himself when Davies, who was “grossly drunk,” lunged at him with a metal stool during the hearing. A story that didn’t match up with what one witness, Jon LaPorte, said he saw that terrible night.
“Josh was holding a stool, did you not see that?” asked Scott Schiro, a defense lawyer.
LaPorte replied, “No.”
“He wasn’t holding it over his head did you?” He asked Schiro.
I said, “No,” LaPorte.
Sehmer could spend 30 years in jail. The web court record showed that he would be given his sentence on September 6.
WITI reporter Bret Lemoine wrote about how the victim’s family felt about the results.
Ed Davies, his father, said, “I got this tattoo and I put these on his arms.” “We’re pleased with the outcome.”
