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He's a former football player who fell from grace in the most gruesome way.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Apr 23, 2019
Five-year-old La'Rayah Davis died earlier this week at a Las Vegas-area hospital. Authorities say that her mother, Amy Taylor, and former NFL player Cierre Wood are responsible for her death. But who is Cierre Wood?
The Washington Post has the gruesome details about the death of La’Rayah Davis. According to the authorities, La’Rayah was brought to the hospital last Tuesday evening after she was found unresponsive in her apartment. Doctors examined her and found that she’d suffered extensive injuries to her torso, legs, and abdomen. After she’d died on Thursday, a full autopsy was conducted, where it was revealed she’d had a laceration on her liver, as well.
And that’s just the beginning of the many gruesome details in the case. Here’s more about what we know of Cierre Wood and his alleged role in the murder of young La’Rayah Davis.
1. His relationship with La’Rayah’s mother is not clear.
According to Fox 8, Wood — who was arrested at Summerlin Hospital in a suburb of Las Vegas — has an unclear relationship with Amy Taylor, who was La’Rayah’s mother. While some outlets, including Fox 8, report that Wood and Taylor were dating, other outlets report that Wood and Taylor are no longer dating. Because the nature of the relationship between Wood and Taylor is unclear, so is the motive. (It bears stating that there could be no logical motive for murdering a child, however.)
2. Cierre Wood’s NFL career is far from distinguished.
Some people who know La'Rayah Davis are upset that the media focus has shifted to Cierre Wood's football stats.
While Cierre Wood is making headlines because he was a “former NFL star,” the reality of his career is less-than-stellar. CBS Sports released the full rundown of Cierre Wood’s football career, which began in 2010. Throughout his career, he served as a running back.
From 2010 to 2012, he played for the University of Notre Dame but went undrafted in 2012. In 2013, he was signed to the Houston Texans but released the same year. He also played for the Patriots, Ravens, Seahawks and Bills, as well as for the Canadian Football League. Throughout the course of his career, he tallied 2,447 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. However, he only saw just five carries in regular-season play. With the exception of his time with the Buffalo Bills, most of Cierre Wood’s time on the field has been spent with practice squads. He was ultimately released from the Montreal Alouettes on May 1, 2018, and hasn’t played football since.
3. La’Rayah’s father, Danaun Davis, was shocked by the murder.
According to 3 News Las Vegas, Danaun Davis – La’Rayah’s birth father – was shocked and devastated by the murder. “She had so many people she touched and she was only 5. That's the most tragic thing. I can't call her. I just talked to her that Monday before. Dad, I'll see you in two weeks. The next day I get a call that she's gone,” Davis told the outlet.
4. La’Rayah Davis had been abused for quite some time.
According to Hawaii News Now, there had been some signs that La’Rayah was abused for a long time before she was killed. Danaun Davis told the outlet that when he would drop his daughter back home to her mother, “she was afraid to go back.” Davis also said that while he couldn’t figure out why La’Rayah was afraid to return to her mother, he now understands. He also told the outlet that he wished he could go back in time and protect his daughter from her own fate.
5. He was originally held on bail.
According to Fox News, Cierre Wood was originally held on $5,000 bond in connection to the case. At the time, however, La’Rayah was hospitalized, though still alive. When she died, however, the charges were upgraded from child abuse & endangerment to murder. With the felony charges now hanging over his head, Wood is currently being held without bail.
However, in an interesting twist, the charges against La’Rayah’s mother, Amy Taylor, haven’t been upgraded to murder. What’s also interesting is, it’s unclear whether Taylor — who was held on the same $5,000 bond as her possible boyfriend — had “made” the bond and, as such, is walking free.
What is clear, however, is that a little girl is dead, a family that loved her is grieving, and two people are behind bars for her murder. It is truly a tragedy all around, and more than anything, we hope that little La’Rayah Davis gets justice.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. Find her online at www.bernadettegiacomazzo.com and www.longlivetheuprising.com.