What happened the night Kevin Davis died?

On the night of Dec. 29, 2014, shots rang out inside a Pine Tree Circle apartment just outside Avondale Estates. When DeKalb County Police arrived on the scene to back up one of its officers, they found Kevin Davis, 44, slumped on the floor, his injured dog nearby, both bleeding from their respective injuries. What had begun as an act of defense had resulted in a gunshot wound to his chest at the hands of the law. He died two days later, but questions remain unanswered.

In the month that followed, the family says, they've received few answers about what happened that night. They want more transparency from police brass, and they want the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to take over the case.

Delisa Davis, Kevin's sister, remembers him positively. She says the Wisconsin native was trying to get healthy. He had started riding his bike to work as a cook at Sawicki's in Downtown Decatur. He loved his live-in girlfriend, April Edwards, and showered his nieces and nephews with attention. He was a "very good guy."

"He was always happy, always joking," she says.

According to police reports and Davis family attorney Mawuli "Mel" Davis (no relation to his clients), Edwards was arguing with Terrance Hilyard, a friend who was crashing on their couch. According to the lawyer, Hilyard complained at Edwards' request to watch TV. A heated argument led to Hilyard stabbing Edwards in the right arm. Kevin Davis, who was upstairs with his three-legged dog, Tooter, grabbed his gun and ran to Edwards' defense. Hilyard then fled the house.

According to Mawuli Davis, his investigator has interviewed neighbors, Hilyard, and Edwards, who claims Tooter ran to the front door, where he was shot by DeKalb Officer J.R. Pitts, who had arrived at the scene. According to Delisa Davis, it was the second time in the animal's life it had been shot by a police officer. The dog returned to Kevin Davis and Edwards, bleeding.

"They think this is Terrance Hilyard coming back now to shoot them," the lawyer says. "Davis grabs his gun and goes toward the front door and while he's in his apartment the police shoot him .... Edwards just heard the shot, never hears the officer say 'police.'"

Police reports don't say whether Pitts announced himself — only that when another officer arrived on the scene, Pitts yelled "drop your weapon" from inside the apartment. But Mawuli Davis says neighbors claim they heard gunshots first and then the police command.

At Grady Memorial Hospital, the lawyer says, Davis was charged with aggravated assault. The family wasn't allowed to visit. On Dec. 31, he died alone in the hospital from the gunshot wound.

DeKalb Police Spokesman Steve Fore declined to comment, citing a pending investigation. He says DeKalb District Attorney Robert James will launch its own independent investigation once police complete their inquiry.

Davis' sister is certain her brother would have dropped his weapon — and adds that the statement he gave at the hospital, which she has seen, says that police "came in my house shooting."

Since Davis died, members of his family says they've heard little from police, including Chief Cedric Alexander, who championed transparency after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. They're demanding greater accountability and another law enforcement agency to determine what actually happened.

"I'd like the officer who killed him to be held accountable," Delisa Davis says. "I'd like the GBI to open an investigation to police the police. DeKalb is not being transparent."