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A man was sentenced on Tuesday to serve 60 years in prison for raping three Towson University students at gunpoint in the downtown business district near campus.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Judith C. Ensor said Quantze Davis, 29, of Baltimore, “forever changed the course of the lives of three young women” as she handed down the punishment. He must register as a sex offender and undergo supervision for the rest of his life.
“There is no vocabulary sufficient to describe this crime,” Ensor said.
“There’s no way to make this right,” she added. “In the end, we have to admit that the law can’t fix everything.”
Ensor said the students were “literally devastated” and did nothing to deserve what happened to them.
At the same time, Ensor said, she considered statements from Davis’ loved ones who described him as a loving, selfless man and an outstanding father. She said she believed he was genuinely remorseful and added, “I have no doubt he has shown all those qualities to his family.”
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On Feb. 2, 2023, Davis approached the students, pulled out a handgun and demanded cash in the central business district in Towson. He later ordered them to get on their knees, threatened to kill them and forced them to perform oral sex on him.
Next, Davis directed the women to keep their heads down and count to 100. He also raised his weapon at two passersby and told them to walk away.
Baltimore County Police searched the area for surveillance cameras and discovered that Davis went to a smoke shop 20 minutes before the sexual assaults. At one point, he pulled down his face mask. And he used Apple Pay.
Detectives got a copy of the receipt from his purchase and sent it to the credit card processing company.
Police obtained his full credit card number and transaction history, which revealed that he was a subscriber to Uber One. The account was registered in his name.
Law enforcement also found several arrest photos of Davis in police databases and compared them to the man in the footage.
Assistant State’s Attorney John Magee asked for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, describing him as a violent criminal with seven prior arrests.
At the time, Davis was on probation in Anne Arundel County for illegal possession of a regulated firearm. He’s currently facing charges including rape, kidnapping and armed robbery in Baltimore on allegations that he followed a woman who got off a bus, pulled out a gun and forced her to perform oral sex on him one month before victimizing the students, Magee said.
Davis, he said, has received two infractions during his incarceration in the Baltimore County Detention Center for assault and disobeying commands.
Magee said the students continue to struggle on a daily basis, adding that their sense of safety has been forever shattered. He commended them for their courage. The women wrote victim impact statements, which the judge privately read in her chambers before the hearing, and sat in the courtroom in the Baltimore County Courts Building with their loved ones.
The Baltimore Banner does not identify survivors of sexual assault without their consent.
“The state’s position is the defendant is a predator,” Magee said. “This case calls out for the maximum penalty.”
But Jason Silverstein, Davis’ attorney, disputed that characterization and asked for a sentence of life with all time suspended but 30 years in prison.
Davis, he said, has experienced immense tragedy in his life. He has also struggled with substance use disorder and undiagnosed mental health issues.
“I do not believe a life sentence is appropriate,” Silverstein said.
The mother of his two daughters, Kayla Adams, called Davis an active, cool and fun-loving father who instilled important values in their children, 1 and 8. “He is a person of good character,” she said.
His younger brother, Damontze Davis, stated that he would not have made it without his sibling’s love.
Meanwhile, Jay Gillen, a teacher who taught math to Quantze Davis from 2009-2013 in a program in Baltimore City Public Schools, called him a remarkable person with a tremendous heart.
Gillen said he did not in any way want to minimize the horror that the students experienced.
Quantze Davis, he said, is magnetic, loyal to his family members and devoted to the community. Gillen lamented how a man who could soar so high had sank so low.
“He’s capable of great humanity,” Gillen said. “I believe his capacity for good exists.”
Quantze Davis said he was humbled, ashamed and embarrassed to appear in court and apologized to the students and their family members. He said he was “lost and not where I wanted to be in life,” depressed and high on oxycodone.
“I will do my best for myself, family and friends,” Quantze Davis said. “I will be better.”
Correction: This story’s photo caption has been updated to correct the year the photo was taken.
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Dylan Segelbaum is the courts reporter at The Baltimore Banner.
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