A man who fatally stabbed his live-in boyfriend and mutilated the victim’s body at the West Hollywood apartment they briefly shared at 939 Palm Ave. was sentenced today to 12 years in state prison.
Andre Davids, 38, was found guilty Dec. 17 of voluntary manslaughter for the March 29, 2014, killing of Kurtland Ma, a 34-year-old emergency room physician. Jurors acquitted Davids of the more serious charge of second-degree murder.
During the sentencing hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham, Wayland Ma addressed his brother’s killer.
“When anyone, including your family, looks at you, the first thing they will see is a murderer. Even if they say they’re OK with having you alone in a room with their family, no matter what they say to you, what you have done will always be on their mind. You will never escape the evil you carry inside of you, and people will know.”
Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee called it “absolutely one of the most gruesome crime scenes that I or the homicide detectives have ever seen.”
The prosecutor noted that Ma suffered about 40 stab wounds, was “disemboweled,” with some of his organs stuffed into his mouth and pill bottles and pills shoved into his body cavity, in a killing motivated by Ma’s decision to break up with Davids.
Davids was found inside a bathroom in the apartment. Authorities said he appeared to have taken a large amount of pills. He was arrested the following day.
I hadn’t heard from Kurt in a long time and a few emails had gone unanswered so I FINALLY decided to Google him. I guess I’m glad I know but I really could have gone without the details. Kurt and I did some traveling together and he was a unique man. If we had been closer in age (I’m older) we both agreed we would have dated but from day 1 we knew it was just a friendship based on a great deal of mutual respect. I will always remember his smile. May his killer ultimately rot in hell.
Only 12 years? What an injustice! May Peace be with Eddie Ma’s family.
The legal system is a joke.
An absolute miscarriage of justice. Kurtland’s brutal murder was terrible enough, a 12 year sentence for such a gruesome murder is like killing him again. Influence of drugs? Crime of passion are no excuses for taking away someone’s life, even if you are upset about something in a relationship, no one is entitled to carry out their anger through murder. The juror really failed Kurtland and his grieving family. I honestly hope the murderer would never come out of jail alive, he doesn’t deserve to see the light of day ever. Kurtland had such a bright future ahead of him… Read more »
This sentence is DISGUSTING! How a transient gay man committed the most haneous crime in west hollywood history against his boyfriend. Passion insanity or lover’s quarrel is no excuse to the horrific murder of stabbing Kurtland Ma’s body 40 times, slicing his body and mutilating it upon recognizion, stuffing his penis in his mouth and entrails and guts and abdominal cavity carved out and intestines strewn on the kitchen floor. This so called boyfriend was should always be known as “the gay butcher of west holllywood” and a psychopath! Is it reminiscent of the gay New York wannabe social climber… Read more »
Fbnyc -under our (overall fair) system, no, this cannot be appealed, accept by the defendant, who would then place himself in jeopardy if he succeeded in getting a new trial where he could be convicted of murder. Sometimes the system sucks, but no, he can and shouldn’t be retried.
It was my conclusion after reading the last story on this that he got the lesser conviction due to being under the influence of drugs at the time of the murder. It’s truly shocking that this sort of thing can help one avoid a murder charge. And this man will likely return to L.A. and West Hollywood in 12 years. Hopefully whoever dates him next takes the time to do a Google search as soon as possible.
This is an outrageous travesty of justice! The brutality and gruesomness of this crime was on the scale of the Manson killings. The DA appropriately charged second degree murder. The typical liberal westside jury however got sucked in with the” I was under the influence of drugs at the time, crime of passion crap, and black men are treated more unfairly than others garbage” and reduced the charge to manslaughter. What someone gets for hit and run. There will be no “#AsianLives Matter angry activists or Chinese Al Sharptons to burn down the courthouse in protest. This slap on the… Read more »
Will the People appeal? Seems they should.
The judge did what he or she could by imposing the harshest possible sentence. I am no fan of long prison sentences but this is unfair and a slap into the face of the family and friends of the victim.
what kind of pills? where did he get them? what kind of pills was he taking at the time of the murder. There is a serious drug problem in Weho. There are a lot of facts to this case we don’t know. Of course he should have gotten life in prison. But historically Jurors are easier on Gay on Gay crime than they are Straight on Straight crime. If it had been a woman who was the victim, he would have gotten life. If there had been at least one Gay Juror to hold out and at the very least… Read more »
This is a prime example of why the jury system doesn’t work anymore. Brain dead morons sit on juries now. The smart ones get out of it. This guy should have received the death penalty. I’m glad this was not my brother or relative because I’d have to doll out my own justice after he gets paroled.
I’m guessing that given “Davids was found inside a bathroom in the apartment. Authorities said he appeared to have taken a large amount of pills. He was arrested the following day” [,]he used the defense of intoxication to Second Degree Murder. Kill someone and then swallow pills. Apparently, the jury was confused/unable to decide about this defense. Sounds like sadly, the defense attorney did a better job than the prosecution.