Couple kill themselves at senior community, police say
The married pair had lived at Oak Manor Senior Living Community for a short time.
By JACOB H. FRIES
Published August 5, 2005
LARGO - They each wrote out a paragraph, apologizing, saying goodbye and explaining that they were in pain, investigators said Thursday.
Detectives think Leotis Davis, 80, went first, firing a bullet from a .38-caliber revolver. Then wife Mary, 78, followed.
Their bodies were found in bed at 6:30 a.m. Thursday at Oak Manor Senior Living Community where they had been living for only a short time, said Largo police Officer Paula Crosby. A staff worker had come to their private apartment to wake them for breakfast and medication.
"All indications are that they were preparing for this," Crosby said.
Carey Harrington, an Oak Manor administrator, declined to comment about the couple.
Crosby said the couple had two children, but efforts to reach them Thursday were unsuccessful.
An autopsy confirmed the wounds had been self-inflicted, police said.
"I think they both decided to end it and they took turns writing notes to their loved ones," said Detective Keith Barton, who investigated the deaths. "They said that they were physically in pain."
Carol Turner had lived across from the couple on Avocado Drive for about 20 years, before they moved to Oak Manor about a month ago.
Leotis Davis, a retired mailman, had recently broken his hip and could not care for his wife as he used to, Turner said. Mary Davis had been ill for years, suffering with diabetes and other medical problems, she said.
"Lee kind of looked after her and took care of her, but after breaking his hip, of course, then he couldn't handle everything," she said.
Thursday, Turner recalled how Davis had always offered his help to neighbors, picking up their mail when they vacationed and sharing oranges from his back yard.
Over time, Leotis Davis talked about his depression with Turner's husband, James.
"His wife was so sickly and everything, and I think it was getting to him," Turner said. "I think he was concerned that he couldn't care for her."
