Anthony Quinn Davis was only a teenager when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1982 for armed robberies in South Florida at the age of 15.
Davis was expected to never again walk the streets of Florida as a free man—but today, he is finally out of jail, after spending over 40 years behind bar.
Back in 1982, Davis was sentenced as an adult, despite the fact that he was only 14 at the time he committed the armed robberies and 15 at the time he received his life sentence.
He was sent to a Florida state prison that also housed death row inmates.
Talking to WSVN's Karen Hensel on his first day out of jail, Davis said he had a hard time adapting to life in prison. "It was tough, real tough because I had to be my own mom and daddy, was nobody around. No other kids was around me. I'm around adults, rapists, robbers," he said.
He had spent most of his life behind bars by 2010, when the opportunity to be released from jail came about. That year, the Supreme Court ruled in Graham v. Florida that life sentences without parole were unconstitutional for juveniles who did not commit murder.
The Court called life without parole "an especially harsh punishment for a juvenile [...] A 16-year-old and a 75-year-old each sentenced to life without parole receive the same punishment in name only."
"I'm not saying I'm no angel. I did wrong, OK? But I ain't do nothing to kill anybody. I've just made mistakes. I was a kid," Davis told WSVN.
Davis was eligible for release (which he obtained last week) and was returned to society as a free man.
"I made it. I like the man I am today. I'm an honest man. I'm a good man, you know," he told WSVN.
Davis is now making up for lost time, spending time with his family (he's one of 12 children), going to Disney World, swimming in a pool, riding a bike.
"Every time I go outside, I can't get enough. I'm gonna get me a chair and just sit out there. I can't wait to catch it at night because I ain't seen the stars yet," he said. He added that he couldn't stop smiling because "it feels so wonderful" to be out.
Unfortunately, both his parents died while he was detained. "My mom wasn't there to see me walk away," he told WSVN.
Davis he's already working a part-time job trimming trees while he looks for a full time job. He said he "did wrong things, end up in the wrong place" and regretted the way things went "all my life." Now, he wants to become a mentor for troubled teens.
"I'm going to really get in their face, and I'm going to let them know this was going on for real. I don't want them to turn out to be like I did," he said.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
