Teen who stabbed neighborhood 'uncle' who was fighting cancer, bragged about watching him die learns his fate

A 16-year-old in Michigan will spend decades in prison for killing a 73-year-old man while robbing his home, texting a friend moments after the shooting that the “old man was dead” and describing how he watched the victim “gasp his last breath.”

Muskegon Circuit Judge Matthew R. Kacel on Tuesday sentenced Kemaree Davis to serve 20 to 60 years in a state correctional facility for the 2025 slaying of Thomas Stewart, court records show.

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Kacel handed down the sentence after Davis pleaded no contest to one count of open murder and two felony weapons charges.

Davis appeared before a courtroom packed with family and friends of both the victim and the teenage defendant, according to MLive.

As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities on the morning of Dec. 1, 2025, responded to a reported shooting at a residence in the 1400 block of Jiroch Street where they found Stewart dead between the kitchen and living room with a gunshot wound to the upper body.

Police said Stewart’s wallet was found next to his body and his pockets had been turned out.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Davis, who knew Stewart from the neighborhood, entering and leaving Stewart’s home. Authorities arrested the teen about a week after discovering Stewart’s body.

Investigators said Davis went to Stewart’s home intending to rob him. During a police interview, Davis allegedly said Stewart gave him $20 after discovering him inside the house. He claimed his firearm “went off,” killing Stewart, then admitted taking another $20 from Stewart’s wallet.

About an hour after the shooting, Davis sent a message to a 17-year-old friend.

“The old man is dead. Bro, I watched him gasp his last breath,” he wrote.

The message served as key evidence in the case. Prosecutors also presented witness testimony and investigative evidence linking Davis to the killing.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Stewart’s family spoke about the man they knew as “Uncle Tommy,” describing him as someone who spent his life helping others. His son Terrance Stewart said his father had been battling cancer and weighed about 100 pounds before his death.

“My father always pushed us to reach our goals and be great,” Terrance Stewart said, according to MLive. “If I could become half the man my father was, I’d live a good life.”

Another son, Dalrecus Stewart, said he had imagined his father’s killer as someone who looked like an evil person and was stunned when he saw Davis in court.

“He looks like a little boy,” Dalrecus Stewart said. “I wanted to hate because of the loss of my father, but it’s my father’s words to me that prevents me from going there.”

When given an opportunity to address the family, Davis apologized.

“From the bottom of my heart, I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened to your loved one, Mr. Stewart,” Davis said, according to Grand Rapids, Michigan, ABC affiliate WZZM. “The world has lost a kind and caring man. I am truly sorry and I feel terrible for that, and I will for the rest of my life.”

In addition to the murder, the judge sentenced Davis to two years for felony use of a firearm and two to five years for carrying a concealed weapon. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently. Davis received 288 days of credit for time already served, but only toward the weapons sentences, not toward the murder sentence, records show.

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