Who Murdered Wendale Davis?

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The murder of 16-year-old Wendale Davis is unsolved and police hope AMW viewers can help crack the case.

Wendale Davis, 16, had his whole life ahead of him. The junior at West High School in Bakersfield, Calif. was affectionately known by the nickname, "Sweets."

Family members say the conscientious and considerate young man had plans to become a firefighter, but those plans never came to be.

On April 23, 2006, Wendale spent the evening with a friend, and they ended the night talking outside of her home on the east side of Bakersfield. It was late, almost 3 a.m., and the pair kept the conversation going sitting in Wendale's Honda Civic.

What Wendale and his girlfriend didn't realize is that they were being watched. Without warning, a car pulled up to Wendale’s Honda at an angle. They had positioned their car so that Wendale could barely open his driver's side door. All that Wendale and his friend could see in the other car were the tops of heads: at least two men, but maybe more.

Wendale asked his friend if she recognized the car, or if she knew who they were. She said that she had no idea, so Wendale tried to step out of his car and talk to the men in the car.

Wendale barely spoke more than a few words before a gunman opened fire, shooting the teenager in the face. Wendale died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

For almost three years, Bakersfield police have been trying to solve Wendale's murder.

Little is known about the suspects other than the fact that they were driving a navy or black, 1980s or 1990s Ford Thunderbird. Police aren't sure how many suspects were in the car, but police believe they were gang members who had come into the neighborhood of a rival gang -- and that they were looking for trouble.

Police believe the suspects mistook Wendale to be a member of that rival gang and without provocation or reason, they decided to take Wendale’s life.

Police confirmed to AMW that there is nothing in Wendale Davis’ past to indicate that he was ever a member of any gang. Authorities know that just after the shooting, the suspects fled west on Bradshaw Street.

Police still need your help to break the case. If you have any information about the murder of Wendale Davis, call our hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV.