A Wisconsin man who fatally punched a bar patron because he didn’t like the look of his tattoos will spend several years behind bars – a sentence that the victim’s family is not happy with.
Kevin Sehmer punched Joshua Davies, 39, outside of Tabi’s Lake Country Wine Bar in Hartland, some 30 miles west of Milwaukee, on June 17, 2023.
Davies Suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury from the Assault, Died a Month Later
Davies suffered a traumatic brain injury, and as a police statement noted, he was going “in and out of consciousness” when first responders arrived. Davies died around a month later, on July 12, 2023.
On Friday, Sehmer, 65, was sentenced to seven years in prison for the fatal attack, according to court recrods. He was convicted on Aug. 1 of felony murder by batter. He will get credit for the 423 days he has been behind bars and will serve an additional five years of supervised release.
Sehmer Told Davies He was ‘Going to Hell and God Would Not Save Him’
According to a criminal complaint, Sehmer didn’t like Davies’ tattoos. He commented that Davies was “going to hell, and God would not save him.” Sehmer followed Davies out of the bar, where he punched him. Davies and his wife, Jennifer Davies, were at Tabi’s on a date that night.
Sehmer had allegedly told investigators he thought Davies and another man were using bar stools to attack him, and he pushed Davies back to protect himself. However, surveillance didn’t match the suspect’s account. Sehmer was initially charged with battery. After Davies died, those charges were upgraded to felony murder.
Davies’ Family: Sentence ‘Not Nearly Enough’
Family members were disappointed in the sentence handed down by Judge William J. Domina. “I guess our family was just hoping for a lot more today,” a tearful Jamie Davies, Josh’s sister, told a local news outlet.
Davies’ father was blunt in his assessment of the ruling. “What he got was not nearly enough,” said Davies’ father Edward Davies, according to local CBS affiliate WDJT. “I don’t like the verdict at all.”
Davies left behind his wife and three children.
