Jurors heard surveillance, cellphone and postal-tracking evidence connecting the men to a pickup that followed Jont’e Davis before the shooting.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A federal jury has convicted an Ohio father and son of murdering U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jont’e Davis, concluding a nearly two-week trial in which prosecutors used surveillance video, cellphone records and postal data to reconstruct roughly 90 minutes before Davis was shot during his delivery route.

Kaprise Sledge of Warren and his father, Thomas Sledge of Youngstown, were found guilty Sept. 3 of murder of an officer and employee of the United States and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Davis, 33, was killed March 2, 2024, while working in Warren. The Justice Department said the two men aided and abetted one another in a premeditated killing. Their sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10 before U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent.

The government’s case centered heavily on the movements of a gray Dodge Ram and the electronic records that investigators said connected both defendants to it. According to evidence presented at trial, the pickup followed Davis as he moved through his postal route for about an hour and a half. When Davis stopped his mail vehicle on Olive Avenue Northeast, the pickup pulled alongside it and gunfire came from the Dodge. An eyewitness called 911 and described the vehicle, giving investigators an early lead in a case that would eventually involve postal inspectors, Warren police and federal investigators.

The truck quickly became one of the investigation’s most important pieces of evidence. Authorities determined that it was registered to Kaprise Sledge, and cameras at homes and businesses captured a similar truck at several locations before and after Davis was killed. At trial, prosecutors said one image showed Kaprise Sledge in the back seat. The government also presented evidence that the truck was later found behind a home at 429 Maryland Avenue Northeast, about a mile from the shooting scene. A postal inspector who operated a drone showed jurors an image of the pickup parked in the backyard near the rear of the house and away from street view.

Investigators also turned to cellphone records almost immediately. U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigator Joshua Gardner testified that soon after the shooting he began preparing search warrants for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. He sought information about devices recorded within about 150 meters of the place where Davis was shot and the Maryland Avenue property where the pickup was found. The warrants also covered short windows before and after the shooting and the discovery of the truck. Gardner testified that only three devices met the conditions he had established and that two were associated with Kaprise and Thomas Sledge.

That electronic evidence was disputed at trial. Defense attorneys challenged the reliability of the location analysis prosecutors used to place the defendants in the area. In opening statements, lawyers argued that the process had not been sufficiently tested for the purpose prosecutors were asking jurors to accept. An attorney for Thomas Sledge also pointed to evidence he said was absent: Thomas Sledge was not seen in videos of the pickup, his DNA was not found in it, and investigators had not identified him through a tip line. Kaprise Sledge’s lawyer similarly emphasized the amount of time between a sighting of his client in the truck and the shooting.

The government’s evidence extended beyond ordinary cellphone location records. Postal inspectors testified that they reconstructed Davis’ own workday from data created by the handheld device he used to scan mail. Investigators referred to the series of location points as “bread crumbs.” Those records helped authorities follow Davis’ path through Warren and compare his movements with surveillance footage and other electronic records. Prosecutors used the combined information to argue that the pickup’s presence along the route was not a chance encounter but part of a prolonged effort to follow Davis before he was killed.

Jurors also heard evidence about a package Davis delivered the day before the shooting. A postal inspector testified that the package weighed about 15 pounds and had been delivered to a Warren property the government said was owned by Kaprise Sledge, although the shipment was not addressed to him. The package originated from Northern California, and a government witness testified that its return address had been associated with mail-order marijuana shipments. Under cross-examination, however, the inspector acknowledged that he did not know what was actually inside the package. Authorities have not publicly established a motive for Davis’ killing, and the package evidence does not by itself establish why he was targeted.

Residents near Olive Avenue provided jurors with a different part of the case: what happened at the moment of the shooting. Witnesses described hearing gunfire and seeing a pickup near Davis’ mail vehicle. One resident testified that after the shots, Davis’ postal truck drifted down the street until it struck a stop sign. Neighbors came outside after hearing the gunfire. Other testimony described the pickup leaving the area. Those accounts were presented alongside the electronic and surveillance evidence that prosecutors said tracked the Dodge Ram both before and after the attack.

Davis was taken from the scene to Trumbull Regional Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. He had worked as a Postal Service letter carrier for about a year, according to his published obituary. A Warren native, he graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 2008 and later earned an HVAC license from ETI Technical College. The obituary also said he had attended Kent State University and previously worked for Great Lakes Cheese and AVI. Public reporting from the trial identified him as the father of 10 children.

The case moved into federal court because Davis was a federal employee carrying out official duties when he was killed. A federal grand jury indicted the Sledges in October 2024. Both men pleaded not guilty and remained in federal custody as the case proceeded. Prosecutors at one point had the option of pursuing capital punishment but later informed the court that the government would not seek the death penalty. Jury selection was held in August 2026, followed by nearly two weeks of testimony before Nugent in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

After hearing the government’s reconstruction of the route and the defense challenges to the identification and location evidence, jurors returned guilty verdicts on both counts against both defendants. The murder conviction carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison. The firearm offense carries a mandatory minimum term of 10 years and can also result in a life sentence. Nugent will determine the punishment after considering the federal sentencing guidelines and other factors required by law.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Cleveland office and the Warren Police Department investigated the killing, with assistance from the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, the Trumbull County Action Group Drug Task Force and Trumbull County Emergency Management. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carol Skutnik, Peter Daly, Brett Hammond and Samuel Lioi prosecuted the case. With the verdicts entered, the next scheduled proceeding is the Dec. 10 sentencing hearing, where the court will decide how long each man will serve.

Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.