17-year-old Minnesota teenager, Jeremy Joe Davila, has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Jay’Mier K. Givens. He teamed up with another juvenile to fatally stab the 19-year-old 22 times. According to Law&Crime, one of them wrote about the brutal murder in his journal before the pair was arrested.
On Friday, Davila was sentenced to 25 and a half years in prison. He has already served eight months. His accomplice, who is a 14-year-old, has not been disclosed because of his age. He has also been charged with second-degree murder.
At the sentencing, the victim’s family addressed Davila. “I thought that he was your homey, bro,” said Givens’ uncle DeWayne, according to a courtroom report from The Pioneer Press.
⚠️ WARNING: This post contains details of murder, stabbing, & violence involving minors.
An unnamed 14-year-old boy (“JC”) has been charged with second-degree murder & his 17-year-old foster brother, Jeremy Joe Davila, is charged with aiding & abetting second-degree murder in… pic.twitter.com/0DXVyLK7fw
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) May 9, 2025
According to the court documents, when the judge asked Davila if he wanted to say anything, the boy held his head down and repeatedly said, “May he rest in peace.” Givens’ mother revealed that he was born when she was just 14 years old. At the sentencing, the mother held her son’s high school diploma and graduation hat, which he earned just four months before he was killed.
“It was not easy getting there, but we did it,” recalled Waynesha Givens, the victim’s mother. She also grieved that it was “horrible” to her that her son was killed so soon, but he will always be with her. “I feel it in my heart. And he made me who I am today,” she said.
According to the court documents, the St. Paul Police Department was called to the scene around 11:30 p.m. on March 31, 2025. They spotted an unresponsive male lying on the street. When paramedics arrived, Givens was rushed to the hospital. However, the doctors there pronounced him dead.
According to Law&Crime, the autopsy revealed that Givens had suffered at least 22 stab wounds, including 18 to his back and two to his upper left arm. In addition, he had stab wounds on his neck and right hand.
‘I thought that he was your homey’: Teen headed to prison thanks to his pal journaling how they had ‘hella fun’ fatally stabbing a man over 20 times https://t.co/V0dcobzEZi
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) January 27, 2026
According to the victim’s brother, Givens went “to smoke” with Davila and the 14-year-old, who were his “buddies.” The suspects, who are foster brothers, lived about three blocks away from where the victim’s body was found.
As per the outlet, the detectives were able to track Givens’ movements through the GPS on his phone. According to the affidavit, he was mapped at a location near the suspects’ home when the killing occurred. Surveillance footage also spotted three of them walking together and then entering a wooded area, but only two were spotted coming out.
The 14-year-old, who has been identified as JC, was arrested on May 1 at his temporary foster home. He allegedly admitted that “we dropped one” and Givens was “poked in the back.” He also mentioned that they were “havin hella fun.”
According to the affidavit, the teen wrote in his journal, “He tried to scream. He tried to run, but he aint fight. Why you aint fight for yo life when I poke u wit dis knife.”
