East St. Louis mother of six children is the third family member to die from gunfire
The tragedy of fatal gunfire has once again claimed a member of Barbara Davis’ family.
Davis’ grandson was accidentally shot by another child in Belleville in 2013, one of her sons was gunned down in East St. Louis in 2015 and on Saturday, her only daughter was fatally shot on the same block as her son.
Along with coping with the deaths of three family members from gunfire, Davis also lost one of her sons in May due to medical reasons.
Davis’ daughter, Danisha D. Combs, 45, was identified by authorities as the woman who died on Saturday.
Combs was the mother of six children.
Davis, who is a longtime auxiliary police officer for the city of East St. Louis, said she did not know why her daughter was shot.
“She did not have a beef with anyone,” Davis said. “I don’t know what happened.”
Davis’ grandson, Leonard J. Smith, was shot by a 6-year-old child after they found a gun inside a Belleville home in 2013, according to police. Leonard was 11 when he died.
In 2015, Davis’ son Ralph Collier, 32, was shot to death in the 1300 block of North 37th Street, which is the same place where Combs was shot. No arrests have been made in this murder.
Another one of Davis’ sons, Cortez Combs, died of medical reasons in May.
“It’s hard, but I am trying to deal with it,” Davis said. “It’s very hard.”
Police investigation
Danisha Combs was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, where she died at 8:05 p.m. Saturday, according to Tara Rick of the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office.
No one has been arrested in Combs’ death.
Police officers were called to the 1300 block of North 37th Street on Saturday about a person shot, and they found Combs laying in the street where a large crowd had gathered.
East St. Louis Police Sgt. Cantrell Patterson has said police do not know the motive for the shooting.
This homicide is being investigated by the East St. Louis Police Department and the Illinois State Police.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 1:10 PM.
