1990 charlotte county murder, cold case finally solved, suspect a death row inmate

On Wednesday March 21, 1990 Sharon Gill was murdered in her home on Rampart Blvd in Deep Creek. Sharon was stabbed 39 times. Sharon, 42, was a recent Charlotte County resident and was to be joined by her husband Percy Gill after he finished work in Michigan. Percy was a minister in Detroit. Sharon was found deceased by her 18 -year- old daughter Krista, when she returned home from school.

The Cold Case Team has followed numerous leads in this case over the last few years and conducted numerous interviews. For the past year they have devoted more time and focused on this case extensively.

The Cold Case Team recently received confirmation from the biology section of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement laboratory in Tampa that evidence submitted by the team produced viable DNA connecting Roland (Rollie) Thomas Davis to the murder. Davis was born November 14, 1952 in Newark, Ohio.

The Cold Case Team established Davis was employed with a landscape crew that did work at the Gill home prior the murder.

Davis is currently on death row in Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Ross County, Ohio for the 2000 murder of an 86-year-old retired nurse. The retiree was stabbed to death in her home in Newark, Ohio.

Our Cold Case detectives have recently interviewed Davis at the Ohio prison. Details of that interview and some other details must remain confidential while we await decisions on how and when the prosecution team will proceed. More information will be available later.

The Cold Case Team has learned Davis was in Southwest Florida, traveling from Ohio on and off between 1970 and 2004 and lived and worked in the Charlotte, Lee and Hendry county areas during this time period. In 1990 when Sharon was murdered, Davis was 37 years old.

According to information obtained by detectives, Davis had a few male and female acquaintances in our area and frequently visited several bars within Lee and Charlotte County. The Cold Case Team continues working to identify these past friends and associates.

We are asking anyone who knew Roland (Rollie) Davis and/or any of his friends or associates to please contact the Cold Case Team.

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