Davis was arrested shortly after Briana was found on Aug. 8, 1980, in a house on the street where she lived with her mother and stepfather in Rantoul.
According to trial testimony, Davis — who was 19 at the time — was visiting his father in Rantoul. He spent the day the girl died drinking at the home where she was eventually found with the two brothers who lived there. At some point the brothers left, leaving Davis there alone.
Briana's stepfather, Rand Spragg, said he left the girl playing in the family's front yard and last saw her sitting under a tree.
The family later searched for her. She was found in the brothers' home, naked and under bed clothes in a utility room. She died that night at a local hospital.
An acquaintance of Davis told police that Davis said he'd killed "a woman" at the home.
DNA testing wasn't available in 1980. But in 2004, Davis requested that evidence gathered at the scene of Briana's death be DNA tested.