Search Warrant In Cold Case Homicide Focuses On Four Oaks Police Officer

GARNER, N.C. — A newly executed search warrant connected to a decades-old homicide investigation has identified a Four Oaks police officer as a person of interest, according to court documents.

Agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) carried out the search on March 30, 2026, at the officer’s residence near Benson as part of an ongoing investigation with Garner Police into the 2004 killing of Joshua Matthew Davis.

Davis was fatally injured on January 6, 2004, in a residential neighborhood in Garner. The 16 year-old had been walking home with a relative when the two briefly separated. When the relative returned minutes later, Davis was found bleeding along Hall Boulevard. He was transported to Wake Medical Center, where he later died.

The case has remained unsolved for more than two decades.

According to the search warrant affidavit, a sworn officer with the Four Oaks Police Department was recently identified as a person of interest following a review of the cold case and a tip originally provided from their former spouse in 2010.

Investigators interviewed the officer in September 2025. During that interview, the officer acknowledged awareness the 2010 tip had implicated them in the killing. Authorities said follow-up investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the officer’s statements over time, prompting further inquiry.

In November 2025, the tipster was interviewed again and provided a statement consistent with earlier claims, according to the search warrant. Based on that information, investigators began seeking additional evidence.

Court documents detail additional interactions between investigators and the officer in early 2026. On January 22, the officer stated they would not agree to be interviewed anywhere except the Four Oaks Police Department. An SBI special agent advised the interview would need to take place at a different location. The officer responded they would “think about it” and contact the SBI the following week but did not do so.

On February 16, the SBI agent attempted to reach the officer by phone and later by text message but received no response.

According to the affidavit, investigators then conducted an audit of the officer’s CJLeads account due to concerns the officer could use law enforcement resources to contact or influence witnesses. CJLeads is a law enforcement database that includes address and demographic information from the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, along with criminal records and other contact data, and is not intended for non-law enforcement use.

The audit showed the officer accessed the records system to search for their former spouse, the tipster, less than an hour after the SBI agent attempted to make contact on February 16. Investigators noted the officer had no apparent law enforcement reason to conduct the search and did so while aware the individual was a witness in the homicide investigation.

The warrant authorized the seizure of computers, cell phones, digital storage devices, and related records, including files, communications, and internet activity that could be relevant to the case. Authorities indicated that any seized electronic evidence will undergo forensic analysis.

JoCoReport has not released the officer’s name because no charges have been filed.

The SBI continues to work the case alongside Garner police detectives. Investigators are encouraging anyone with information to call the Garner Department at (919) 773-6070 or the State Bureau of Investigation at (800) 334-3000.

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This story has been updated