A Portland man who gunned down a woman in front of her children two years ago on the day before Thanksgiving was sentenced to 29 years in state prison Tuesday.
Richard D. Simms Jr. had previously been in a relationship with 40-year-old Nicole Davis — but any warmth he once felt had been poisoned by murderous rage when he pulled out the handgun and shot her on Nov. 22, 2023.
In courtroom testimony, Yolanda White said she desperately tried to save her daughter’s life with CPR only to hear Davis utter her last words: “Momma, I can’t breathe.”
“There was no remorse. He just stood there and aimed that gun,” White said in court. “Thanksgiving will never be the same for us. It tore up our life from that day on.”
Two of Davis’ four children — boys ages 2 and 14 — also witnessed the killing, as did her grandmother and other family friends.
Simms, now 32, fled the Parkrose Heights neighborhood apartment complex by car and wasn’t arrested until he was tracked down by U.S. marshals in March 2024.
During the hearing, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Jenna Plank found Simms guilty of first-degree manslaughter, unlawful use of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a gun.
“This will be a generational trauma,” the judge said.
Simms’ criminal history includes a seven-year punishment for first-degree arson, The Oregonian/OregonLive previously reported.
Reading from a handwritten note, Simms said he “wanted to take full accountability” for the killing.
White, speaking outside the courtroom, said she did not hear true sorrow in his voice.
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