REDDING – A dispute between two transients led to a man native to Redding shooting a transient from San Antonio, Texas with a flare gun. 33-year-old Leroy John Davis was taken to Mercy Medical center for treatment of his wounds, and 23-year-old Trevor James Cearley was arrested on assault and weapons charges.
Trevor Cearley was in the news earlier this year, but his trouble with the law began even before that. Records show he was arrested at least four times between 2011 and 2013 on charges of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. His father, Tracy James Cearley, 48, had also had several run-ins with the law, including an arrest in May 2013, a failure to appear and DUI charge in February of this year, and another DUI, along with a charge of driving with a suspended licence (for DUI) in April. By May of this year, both men were said to be living together in a wooded area behind the area of Little Caesar’s Pizza on Lake Blvd., in a north Redding transient camp.
Tracy James Cearley and Trevor James Cearley in previous booking photos.
On the morning of Thursday, May 29, according to a police press release, officers were sent to the area, to the AM/PM Mini Mart on Lake, on reports of a stabbing. Trevor was there, and had a stab wound on his left forearm. He told officers he had been in an argument with his father, but admitted it was in self-defense, apparently implicating himself as the aggressor. He was taken to Mercy Medical for treatment, and officers searched for Tracy Cearley. He was found later that day, at 1:27 in the afternoon, when he turned himself in. He also claimed the attack on his son was self defense.
According to a story published by KRCR TV, a woman who was living in the camp near the pair said the Trevor often picked fights with his father. “He had it coming,” she said. “He was coming down off dope and giving his dad a hard time.” Neither man were arrested at that time, but the details of the investigation were turned over to the District Attorneys’s officer for review. Tracy Cearley was, however, arrested a few weeks later, on June 18 on charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The wooded area behind the businesses on Lake, including Little Caesar’s, is home to a transient camp.
And now Trevor is back. In the same area of Lake Blvd. near Masonic, and near the North Point Plaza and Lake Boulevard shopping centers, Redding police were sent on reports of a man shot in the face with a flare gun. Witnesses were able to provide enough information to identify Trevor Cearley as the suspect. He was soon found about a half mile away, near Boulder Creek Drive and Black Marble Way. He was detained, and the flare gun was still in his possession.
Tracy Cearley was contacted at the AM/PM after the stabbing, which also fronts the transient camp.
Redding police investigators took over the case, and determined that it started when Cearley took Davis’ backpack and ran. Davis chased and found Cearley, and demanded his property back. Cearley pulled out his flare gun, and Davis then pulled out a knife. In the standoff, Cearley was said to fire his weapon, hitting Davis on the left side of his face, and then he once again fled.
Cearley was arrested and booked at the Shasta County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, petty theft, carrying a concealed firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. (A flare gun meets the definition of a firearm in California.)
Read more:
KRCRTV: Father stabs son in transient camp, police point to larger issue
