Krasner Strikes Again! Accused Dog Walker's Killer Was Twice-Convicted Robber Arrested Again For Carjacking & Assault

By Ralph Cipriano

for BigTrial.net

Two weeks before he allegedly murdered a dog walker in Brewerytown, Josephus Davis, 20, a two-time convicted robber, was sitting in jail. 

Why? Because he'd been arrested two more times, for an alleged carjacking, as well as for an aggravated assault allegedly committed while Davis was still in jail. 

But on Dec. 29, 2020, Davis caught a couple of breaks. His bail in the carjacking case had already been reduced from $100,000 to $20,000, so Davis only had to post 10%, or $2,000, to get out of jail.

And his bail in the aggravated assault case was also reduced, from $200,000 to $12,000, so Davis only had to post a 10% deposit of $1,200. So on Dec. 29, 2020, Davis's relatives only had to put up a total of $3,200 to spring Davis.

On Jan. 13th, just 15 days after he gained his freedom, Davis allegedly committed another robbery, only this one turned deadly. At 7 p.m., Milan Loncar was walking his dog Roo  at 31st and Jefferson Streets, a block from his home in Brewerytown, when Davis and another suspect allegedly held him up.

The incident was caught on camera in a blurry black and white surveillance video. Davis, according to police sources, was the robber in the video who stood in front of a taller Loncar; the other suspect stood behind Loncar as they went through the victim's pockets.

Davis allegedly held a gun to Loncar's midsection. In the video, Loncar made a sudden move with his hand, apparently trying to push the gun away from him. Davis reacted by backing up and raising his gun to Loncar's chest, and a muzzle flash went off. The suspects fled on foot.

Loncar, 25, a recent Temple University graduate, took out his cell phone and sat on the ground as he appeared to be trying to summon help. Then he stood up, staggered backward, and collapsed supine on the ground. Roo, his pet dog, a mixed breed of dachshund and chihuahua, ran to Loncar's side, and didn't leave. 

Thirty minutes later, Loncar was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital. It was a preventable tragedy; Davus should have never been out on the street. 

The accused murderer has quite a rap sheet, according to court records, beginning when he was 14 years old. 

Those court records also repeatedly contained a fundamental error, transposing the suspect's first and last names, and misidentifying him as Davis L. Josephus on 16 court dockets and court summaries posted online dating back to 2019. But police and other officials have confirmed that the suspect's real name is Davis Josephus.

The first entry on Davis's rap sheet dates back to March 25, 2015, when Davis was arrested as a juvenile and charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and simple assault. On the assault charge, he was found to be an adjudicated delinquent, the equivalent of a guilty verdict. 

On Jan. 9, 2019, when he was 18, Davis was arrested and charged with robbery with threat to inflict immediate bodily injury, and conspiracy, two second-degree felonies. His bail was set at $20,000 monetary, meaning he had to post $2,000 to get out of jail. 

On May 29, 2019, both charges were dismissed for a lack of prosecution. On Aug. 6, 2019, the charges were refiled by the D.A.'s office. On Sept. 5, 2019, his bail was revoked and forfeited.

On Oct. 2, 2019, bail was set at $25,000, meaning Davis had to post a 10% deposit of $2,500 to get out. 

On Oct. 3, 2019, Davis entered a negotiated guilty plea to robbery and conspiracy, two third-degree felonies, and was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail and two years probation. And just five days later, his bail was reduced to $25,000 unsecured, meaning he didn't have to post a cent to get out of jail.

On Jan. 29, 2020, in a second robbery case, Davis entered a guilty plea to robbery and conspiracy, two third-degree felony charges stemming from an Oct. 2, 2019 arrest. He was given six to 12 months in jail and two years probation. But Davis caught a break because a judge ordered that both of the  sentences from the two robberies were to be served concurrently, rather than consecutively.

The very next month, on Feb. 19, 2020, Davis was arrested and hit with 11 charges for the alleged carjacking, a crime that a knowledgable source said preceded the sentencing day for the two burglaries, so it did not constitute a parole violation. 

The charges in the alleged carjacking included robbery with intent to inflict serious bodily injury, robbery of a motor vehicle, kidnapping for ransom, conspiracy, false imprisonment, firearms not to be carried without a license, carrying firearms in public, theft, receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, and unauthorized use of motor vehicles. 

On Feb. 20, 2020, bail for Davis was set at $100,000 monetary, meaning he had to post $10,000 to get out of jail. But he must have not had the cash because he wound up staying in prison.

Just seven months later, on Sept. 30, 2020, Davis was re-arrested in jail and charged with aggravated assault for attacking a prison guard. He was also charged with attempt to cause serious bodily injury with extreme indifference, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats, simple assault, and reckless endangerment. 

The aggravated assault arrest violated Davis's parole on the two robbery convictions. Had the District Attorney's office contacted Davis's parole officer and asked for the filing of what's known as a detainer, Josephus would have been held in jail without bail until a judge held a hearing could be convened on the alleged probation violations.

But Krasner's office is known to not pursue detainers, and no detainer was ever filed against Davis.  

On Oct. 21, 2020, at the first listing of the aggravated assault in jail case, Davis's bail was reduced from $200,000 monetary down to $12,000 monetary, meaning he only had to post $1,200 to get out of jail.

On Dec. 23, 2020, his bail was lowered in the carjacking case from $100,000 monetary to $20,000 monetary, meaning he only had to post $2,000 to get out of jail. On Dec. 29, 2020, according to court records, Davis posted bail in both cases, a total of $3,200, and he was a free man.

On Jan. 14, 2021, the day after Loncar was murdered, Davis was arrested by police and charged with receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. His bail was set at $25,000. 

Finally, yesterday, police arrested Davis for the murder of Loncar. Davis was charged with murder, conspiracy, robbery with intent to inflict serious harm, possession of a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license, firearms not to be carried in public, and possession of an instrument of crime. 

As of last night, Davis was being held without bail. Police have identified a second suspect in the murder of Loncar, a juvenile whose name has not been released, but he is not in custody yet.

Carlos Vega, a career homicide prosecutor running for the May 18th Democratic nomination for district attorney, said the blame for Loncar's murder rested squarely on District Attorney Larry Krasner.

"Basically, had Larry followed the law to keep the public safe, this young man would still be alive," Vega said about the victim.

About the accused killer, Vega said, "There was no reason legally for him to be on the street with his record and what he had done."

"Judging by his alleged carjacking with a gun, his alleged assault in prison with a weapon, and his two robbery convictions, it was only a matter of time before he [Davis] killed someone," Vega said.

The D.A.'s office, Vega said, could have also filed a motion for a Daisey Kates hearing. That would have involved calling witnesses and putting on evidence about the alleged parole violation sparked by the aggravated assault arrest, before that case ever went to trial. 

In a Daisey Kates hearing, the judge could have decided to revoke Davis's probation, and re-sentence him, which would have kept him in jail. And Loncar would still be alive.

But Krasner doesn't go for Daisey Kates hearings. In a 2018 case, Judge Anne Marie Coyle tried to order one of Krasner's assistant D.A. to file a Daisey Kates motion so she could hear the evidence of an alleged parole violation involving a criminal defendant arrested on weapons and drugs charges. 

But the ADA told Judge Coyle he was under “strict instructions not to proceed” with that motion, prompting the judge to throw the D.A.'s office off the case as prosecutor.

Krasner and his official spokesperson, Jane Roh, did not respond to a request for comment regarding what Vega had to say.

That's hardly a surprise. For the past 18 months, Krasner and Roh have stonewalled all questions from Big Trial on more than 75 stories documenting corruption in the D.A.'s office.

In prosecuting Davis, Krasner had assigned  two rookie assistant district attorneys to two different cases.

Assistant District Attorney Caroline Jamieson, hired in 2019, handled the bail hearing on Oct. 21, 2020 in the aggravated assault case, when bail was reduced from $200,000 to $12,000, before Judge Charles Hayden. Court records do not say whether the D.A. objected to the lowering of bail, or whether the D.A.'s office appealed the bail reduction.

Assistant District Attorney Martin McLemore, another member of Krasner's class of 2019, handled the bail hearing on the carjacking, when Josephus's bail was reduced from $100,000 to $20,000 before Judge Teresa Carr Deni. Once again, court records do not state whether the D.A.'s office objected to the lowering of bail, or whether the D.A.'s office appealed the bail reduction.

Although Krasner doesn't talk to Big Trial, he issued a statement to The Philadelphia Inquirer, his favorite local media outlet, that claimed that the D.A.'s office had opposed reduced bail for Davis. Jane Roh, who doesn't talk to Big Trial, told her friends at the Inquirer that she "could not immediately say" whether the D.A.'s office had appealed the lower bail for Josephus. 

The Inquirer, which bends over backward to protect Krasner, declined to print a press release from Vega that attacked Krasner for the death of Loncar. Instead, the Inquirer did damage control for Krasner by censoring Vega, and printing just what Krasner and Roh told them.

Now that's what I call balanced reporting. The Inquirer, which followed Big Trial's scoop four hours later on the arrest of Davis, also didn't bother to mention where the story ran first. 

Krasner has to rely on rookie prosecutors because his first official act as D.A. was to fire 31 senior prosecutors; other veterans in that office left because they didn't want to work with Krasner.

When he hired 60 new assistant district attorneys in 2019, Krasner hailed the incoming class as an "incredibly bright group of new prosecutors" who constituted "the largest and most diverse class of ADAs ever hired by the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office."

The new prosecutors were personally recruited by Krasner as he went from campus to campus, on a nationwide talent hunt.

Twenty-one of Krasner's new hires promptly failed the bar exam. Seven of the 21 retook the bar exam and failed again.

In the wake of Loncar's murder, friends and family held a vigil last night out on the street where he was killed. They put up a giant portrait of the victim, played music and raised glowing cell phones. They also contributed to a GoFundMe campaign. Police and family members had offered a combined $40,000 reward for the arrest of Loncar's alleged killers.

The lawn at the home of Loncar's mother was covered with Black Lives Matter signs. According to his mother, Loncar was going to move in with his girlfriend next month while planning for an eventual wedding. 

"I don't know why they did it, I just don't understand," Amy Lounsberry, Loncar's mother, told  6ABC  about the robbery.

"I was so proud of him," she said about her son. "Everybody loved him." 

Her son, who left his wallet at home, didn't have any money on him when he was robbed, his mother said.

Loncar's girlfriend also spoke to 6ABC.

"He was my soulmate, and I don't think I have a plan anymore without him," Olivia Gorski said on camera, while Loncar's sister held Roo. 

On this case, Carlos Vega is right. Davis was far too dangerous to be out on the street. The D.A., well known for coddling dangerous criminals, has more blood on his hands. 

He repeatedly did nothing to protect the public from Davis, while his office was complicit in the granting of one favor after another to the accused killer. 

And rather than be open and accountable about what happened, as he promised when he ran for office, Larry Krasner continues to hide in his office and stonewall. 

While the Inquirer enables Krasner by censoring his critics and printing only his side of the story.