Rap Sheet

Reign: 1980s

Business: murder, robbery.

Region: Bronx, NY

Claim to Fame: wounded six officers in a shoot out

Downfall: convicted for murder in 1989

Sentence: served nearly 20 years

Status: killed in prison

Lesson: He fought the law, and the law won.

Case File:

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Larry Davis made headlines when he wounded six NYC police officers in a dramatic 1986 shootout, after officers raided his sister's Bronx apartment to arrest him on charges of murdering five drug dealers. Davis managed to escape that day, and with the help of family contacts and friends he eluded capture for 17 days more despite a massive manhunt. He finally surrendered to police when assured by the presence of local reporters that he would not be harmed.

In the subsequent trial, prosecutors contended that Davis was a drug dealer who specialized in armed robbery and homicides of other dealers, and they presented testimonies from witnesses who placed Davis at the scene of those killings. The defense team, led by renowned attorney William Kunstler, contended that Davis had been recruited into dealing drugs by crooked cops and that the real object of the raid was to silence him by murder.

When an all-minority jury acquitted Davis, finding that he acted in self-defense, 1,500 police officers publicly demonstrated against the verdict. Subsequent trials resulted in more acquittals on murder charges, until 1989 when Davis and his brother were convicted of killing of drug dealer Raymond Vizcaino.

After nearly 20 years in prison, and just days after agreeing to an interview with "American Gangster," Davis was murdered by a fellow convict - a killing that raised suspicions as to how and why the killing took place.