Court documents reveal horrific details in domestic violence killing of mother of three
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The family of 41-year-old Daisha Fry is mourning her loss after she was beaten to death with a baseball bat in the early hours of February 8, 2022. After being on the run from police for a week, her boyfriend, 32-year-old Douglas Hawkins, is behind bars for her murder.
It's not the first time police have arrested Hawkins for harming Fry. Court documents reveal that Fry's daughter told police she watched him choke her mother two times before -- once when they lived in Spokane, WA, and once when they lived in Detroit, MI. Hawkins spent time in jail for the Michigan incident, and Fry fled with her children to live with her sister in a house in north Colorado Springs off Bugle Drive.
Fry and Hawkins met when Fry's brother introduced the two. Fry's brother met Hawkins when the two were incarcerated in Spokane, WA together. Hawkins spent nearly five years in prison in Washington after being convicted of second-degree kidnapping and third-degree child rape. The victim of those crimes was listed as a 14-year-old girl.
It didn't take long after Fry moved to Colorado for her to bring Hawkins back into her life. He took a bus to the Springs and would sneak into Fry's sister's house through her bedroom window, with an object screwed into the window frame to prevent it from being secured shut.
Fry's young daughter told police her mother begged her not to tell the rest of her family that she was spending time with Hawkins again.
When family members found Hawkins in the house, Fry told them his name was Kyle and he was in the military in Colorado Springs. She even told them that he had taken her to a military ball.
In the early hours of Tuesday, February 8th, Fry's daughter told police her mother was in her bedroom with Hawkins. Court documents say she heard a loud noise coming from her mother's room in the middle of the night, describing it as "the sound of metal hitting something."
Fry's daughter pushed her way into her mother's bedroom to find her laying in her bed, her head was bleeding and a metal baseball bat with blood on it sat next to her. Hawkins was no longer in the room, she told police she believed he escaped through a bedroom window.
Fry's daughter called 911, but by the time first responders made it to the home, it was too late.
Police filed for a warrant to arrest Hawkins on first-degree murder charges three days later on February 11, 2022. Hawkins turned himself in on February 15, 2022.
Hawkins is not eligible for bond until a judge takes a closer look at the evidence in his case. If a judge believes there's enough proof he's responsible for Fry's murder, they will deny him bond.
If Hawkins pleads "not guilty", it goes to trial, and if convicted, he'll be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole -- a mandatory sentence following a first-degree murder conviction in Colorado.
Hawkins had an additional warrant out for his arrest out of Washington after failing to check in with his parole officer at the time he turned himself into Colorado Springs Police.
"In honor of Daisha's legacy, I really, really, really would pray to see that victims are well-informed of how they can seek help. This is common, it is out of control," Danyse Johnson, Fry's cousin, told KRDO following the murder.
If you or someone you love needs domestic violence resources, click here. TESSA operates a 24/7 crisis hotline for victims of domestic violence at (719) 633-3819. Their website also includes a "chat" feature if you can't speak on the phone. The website has an "escape button" as well if you need to quickly leave the site.
To care for the young daughter Fry leaves behind, her family started a GoFundMe, you can find more information about that by clicking here.
