Melissa Ann Davis appears inset against an image of the La Quinta Inn where she was last seen alive In Austin, Texas, in late September 2023. (Obituary; screengrab via KXAN)
A Texas man has been arrested in connection with the death of a young woman whose body was found burning along a roadside in typically serene northwest Austin late last month.
Andrew Alexander Cole, 45, currently stands accused of one count of tampering or fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse, according to Travis County court records reviewed by Law&Crime. The charge comes in the wake of a weekslong homicide investigation into the death of 33-year-old artist Melissa Ann Davis.
The defendant has not, however, been charged with the victim’s murder. The present charge against him is a second-degree felony which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He is currently being detained in the Travis County jail Friday on a $100,000 bond for that charge. Cole is also charged, seemingly unrelatedly, with one count of contempt for failure to pay child support – an additional $1,800 bond was assessed against him for that family court issue.
On Sept. 29, at 5:08 a.m., Davis was found by firefighters in a still-burning patch of grass near the corner of Mesa Drive and Cat Mountain Drive in the Northwest Hills neighborhood of the Lone Star State’s capital city. Firefighters arrived in response to a call about a fire that had burned the fence of a nearby home. An initial search warrant for the victim’s cellular phone obtained by local NBC affiliate KXAN revealed police believed at the time that Davis was burned alive.
Cole not being charged in connection with the death itself might suggest that assessment has since been revised. Police are currently being tight-lipped about developments in the case.
“This case is still under investigation,” the Austin Police Department told Law&Crime in an email. “No further information will be available.”
The woman’s official cause of death is pending the results of a toxicology report and autopsy, authorities say.
An arrest affidavit filed in Cole’s case – obtained from the Travis County District Clerk’s office by KXAN and the Austin American-Statesman – links him to the homicide investigation by way of surveillance footage and cellphone data, police claim.
According to the affidavit, investigators believe Cole was with Davis when she died and that he placed her body in a field of grass in the 6300 block of Mesa Drive before setting it alight. The two had earlier been at a La Quinta Inn located in South Austin, police say.
“[The defendant] removed the victim from his hotel room, drove the victim to a neighborhood, placed the victim on the side of the road and lit her on fire,” the affidavit alleges.
The court document alleges security camera footage shows Cole leaving the hotel several times on the night of Sept. 28 – while driving Davis’ Toyota 4Runner. Then, early the next morning, the defendant is allegedly seen placing an object inside the deceased woman’s car.
Footage from the hotel allegedly shows Davis following a Kia said to belong to Cole around 7:04 p.m. on Sept. 28, according to the affidavit. It is unclear how the victim and Cole knew each other.
The victim is then seen meeting Cole and an unidentified second man, police claim. The three then enter the hotel and Davis is never seen alive again, according to the affidavit. Later the next morning, around 4:03 a.m., Cole is allegedly seen driving Davis’ vehicle up to the hotel’s awning and then opening the trunk whereupon he “appears to place an item of some weight” inside, the affidavit says.
According to the search warrant for the victim’s cellular phone, responding officers “smelled a strong odor of accelerant,” in the area where Davis’ body was found. A police dog later discovered a partially burned butcher knife in the vicinity, the warrant says. Law enforcement believes “the knife was placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire,” the warrant says.
The recently filed arrest affidavit reportedly noted that investigators also found a lighter at the scene of the fire.
“It appeared to be thrown over the fence after starting the fire,” the affidavit reads.
Cellular phone data shows Cole arrived in the area where the fire was set at 4:55 a.m. on the day in question then left the area at 5:00 a.m. before heading back to the hotel, according to the affidavit.
Police said Cole checked into the La Quinta Inn on East Oltorf Street on Sept. 27 and out on Sept. 30, citing hotel records.
Cole was arrested on Oct. 25. Court records define him as being charged “pre-indictment,” which means a more formal charge or charges are likely to follow. He is slated to appear in court on Nov. 17.
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