After charges against the alleged killer of Pamela Davis were upgraded to murder last week, her son said his family wants "justice for her because we can't get her back."
NEWARK -- Every time Shuquan Davis drives down the one-way street to his apartment, he remembers what his mother's decapitated body smelled like.
The mutilated remains of his 50-year-old mother, Pamela Davis, were discovered by police on Nov. 9 in a neighbor's garage in the 800 block of South 11th Street, just seven buildings from where her family still lives.
"Fifty years she lived, just to be brutally murdered," Shuquan said during an interview on Monday outside the apartment complex he lives in with his brother, sister and grandfather. "It's just not fair."
His mother went missing Oct. 30. Shuquan, 32, said his family and friends tried calling local hospitals and jails to find her. Calvin Beeks, a 55-year-old who was dating Pamela when she was killed, said he wandered the streets at night, hoping to come across her.
Pamela Davis. (Submitted photo)In the days following, neighbors complained of a stench near the home of Davis's neighbor, James A. Edwards. It "smelled like a dead cat," said Beeks, who goes by the nickname "Amin".
After nearby residents told Edwards of the foul odor, Beeks said, the 57-year-old man bought incense, lying them outside the garage. He began asking neighbors for gasoline, Calvin said.
Shuquan said the behavior made him suspicious.
Ten days after his mother was reported missing, he decided to search Edwards's property. He walked around the blue-painted home and tried opening the garage, kicking it so loud that it alerted Edwards, who Shuquan says then yelled out of a third-story window and came downstairs. He refused to open the garage, Shuquan said.
"I asked him (some) questions: 'What is that smell? And when was the last time (he had seen or spoken) to my mom?'" Shuquan said he asked Edwards. "He didn't respond -- was stuttering and sweating, saying his cat died. I didn't believe him."
Shuquan said Edwards sat on the porch, holding onto the banister while Shuquan tried pulling him off. At some point during the incident, Shuquan said, another family member called the police, who arrived on scene minutes later and taped off the area.
Authorities found a mangled body in the garage, Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said at the time. Two days later, Shuquan said, police identified the corpse -- wrapped in a blanket and blue tarp -- as his mother through his and his grandfather's fingerprints.
Decapitated woman 'didn't deserve this'
Edwards has been in jail since November on desecration of human remains charges, officials said. The charges against him were upgraded to murder last week, after a medical examiner's report was released, authorities said.
During a courtroom hearing on Tuesday morning, Edwards pleaded not guilty to the murder. He is being held on $500,000 bail.
Edwards is accused of killing Davis and attempting "to get rid of the body by dismembering her remains," authorities alleged.
Authorities investigate at the South 11th Street home last year. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Carter said Friday that police still haven't located Pamela's head. Her son said officers told him they believe Edwards threw it away in the trash, though Carter said she couldn't comment on that remark.
Davis's family members said they think the dispute between the woman and Edwards may have been over a small amount of money, as little as $5.
"Ain't no money to kill nobody over," Beeks said.
Some neighbors heard screaming that night, Beeks said, but didn't know where it was coming from. "Then it just stopped."
Beeks' niece, Angie, a 30-year-old who lives in the same apartment complex as Pamela, said she was shocked when she found out what happened.
"No, it can't be Pam," she recalled thinking at the time. "Just, why?"
The funeral was held at Christian Love Baptist Church on Lyons Avenue. The service was packed, Shuquan said, with people filing into all 14 rows of maroon pews.
The Rev. Curtis Morris, who performed the funeral service, said given the circumstances, Pamela's family was "admirable and beautiful."
"I didn't even get a chance to tell her goodbye," Shuquan said. "I had to kiss the top of her casket."
Her cremated ashes are at Rosemount Cemetery, he said.
Shuquan said his 5-foot-2, 100-pound mother fought back during the altercation with Edwards. Police found Edwards's DNA under his mother's fingernails, he said. Carter said she also couldn't comment on this.
Shuquan said he now spends his days taking care of his 73-year-old grandfather Arthur, who had his left leg amputated after two strokes related to diabetes. He was released from the hospital just two days after Pamela was reported missing, his grandson said. Shuquan also parents his 17-year-old sister Tatyana and his 16-year-old brother Taheed, who has autism.
"I'm Mr. Mom now," he mournfully joked. "I still have anger. I remain focused because I have to be here to make sure my family is OK. They need me now more than ever -- I refuse to not give them that. That's my way of keeping my sanity."
His older brother Eric Green, 33, lives with his wife in Avenel, he said.
Shuquan remembered his mother as a "good, strong loving woman with the heart of a lion," who spent her days caring for her four children and making money by helping elderly people in the neighborhood. She would get groceries for those older than her and take their laundry to Clinton Plaza Laundromat, a close five-minute walk from her residence.
The family, Shuquan said, plans to move off the street soon. He said his little sister has too many memories with his mother in their apartment, and he is reminded of the smell of his mother's body every time he looks at or drives by the home they found her in.
When NJ Advance Media visited the home Pamela's body was found in, a woman who answered the door declined to be interviewed. Angie said two elderly people live at the residence.
Some neighbors still couldn't believe this happened so close to home.
"You know, Newark has that reputation of shootings and what not," said 26-year-old Shantay Henry, who has lived across the street from where Davis was found dead for about three years. "But I never thought anything like this could happen here. It's just sad."
Shuquan and other neighbors said Edwards used to work on cars on the street outside the home he resided -- he even fixed up Shuquan and Angie's cars, the two said.
Still, Shuquan said, "at the end of the day, we just want justice for her because we can't get her back."
"I can't live knowing the man who did this to my mother is on the streets," he said.
Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook and Twitter.