Court denies appeal in Marin detox center shooting
A state appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man who shot three people, one fatally, at a San Rafael detoxification clinic.
Davance Lamar Reed killed Nathan Lamont Hill at the Helen Vine Recovery Center in 2018. Hill, 52, of Vallejo was an employee at the center.
Reed also shot his girlfriend, Brittany Kehaulani McCann of Marin City, and Anthony Dominguez Mansapit, another worker at the center.
McCann suffered a gunshot to the left forehead that destroyed her left eye and inflicted a brain injury, according to the appellate ruling. She and Reed had been dating about 10 years and had a child in common.
Mansapit also was shot in the forehead and suffered brain injuries.
The shooting happened after McCann threatened to break up with Reed if he did not enter detox for his hard-drug habit. They went to the Helen Vine Recovery Center.
Video cameras recorded the admission process. After some intake procedures, Reed, who had been behaving erratically, pulled out a gun and shot Mansapit and Hill, according to the ruling.
“Reed entered the hallway and moved towards the exit to the parking lot with B.M. running after him,” the ruling said. “He turned towards B.M. with the gun in his hand and fired, as she raised her hands to her head and fell to the ground.
“Reed ran outside, then ran back into the hall and into the front office. He bent over in front of the desk where Hill was and shot Hill again, in the head at close range. Reed moved briefly around the office and ran out again with his gun in one hand and a set of keys in the other.”
Reed fled in a car used by Mansapit. Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies arrested him in the Rohnert Park area after a chase on Highway 101. Authorities said Reed was a transient with ties to Marin City and Vallejo and a prior record of drug and firearms offenses in San Francisco, Monterey County, Lassen County and Nevada.
The Marin County District Attorney’s Office charged Reed with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, domestic violence, vehicle theft, recklessly evading police and possession of a semi-automatic firearm by a felon. Reed pleaded not guilty with an insanity defense.
A jury convicted Reed in 2021 and concluded that he was legally sane during the attack. He was sentenced to 90 years to life in prison plus a term of 10 years and eight months.
An appellate lawyer filed a challenge with the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco. The appeal claimed the trial judge in Marin “erred by admitting evidence of his prior felony convictions to impeach his out-of-court statements related to his mental state, and by excluding testimony by his expert witness on the same subject,” according to the 36-page appellate ruling, which was released on Dec. 11.
A three-judge panel unanimously rejected the arguments and affirmed the trial outcome.
Reed’s lawyer, John Wilder Lee, did not respond to requests for comment.
Reed, 44, is incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison in Amador County.