Editing Richard Allen Davis (section)

=== Childhood ===
Davis was born to Robert Davis and Evelyn Smith in [[San Francisco]], the third of their five children. He has two older brothers, Donald and Ronald, and two younger sisters, Darlene and Patricia (deceased). Davis is of partial [[Northern Paiute]] heritage through his maternal grandmother, Norma Wasson Johnny, with whom he and his family lived for a time before his father moved them into a house in [[La Honda]].<ref name="social">{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2009 |title=People v. Davis – 46 Cal. 4th 539, 208 P.3D 78, 94 CAL. RPTR. 3D 322 |url=https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-davis-33016#opinion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214214126/https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-davis-33016 |archive-date=14 December 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2022 |website=[[Supreme Court of California]] |publisher=[[Stanford Law School]] |location=Stanford, California}}</ref>

His early life was disadvantaged; both parents were violent [[alcoholics]]<ref name="latadp">{{cite web|first=Mary|last=Curtius|title=Lawyer Argues Against Death Penalty for Davis |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-02-mn-20396-story.html|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |publisher=[[Tribune Publishing]]|location=Los Angeles, California|date=July 2, 1996|access-date=August 3, 2012}}</ref> and his mother had once punished Davis and his brothers for smoking by burning their hands on a hot stove. His father had also been described as "unloving and abusive."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dougan |first=Michael |date=July 24, 1996 |title=Penalty-phase testimony ends in Polly Klaas trial |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/penalty-phase-testimony-ends-in-polly-klaas-trial-3133312.php |website=SFGate}}</ref> His mother had also held his hands to a hot stove for playing with matches when Davis was three.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jurors ask judge to sentence Polly's killer to die|newspaper=[[The Tuscaloosa News]] |publisher=[[New York Times Company]]|location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama|page=13|date=August 6, 1996 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19960805&id=aSEeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6723,1036464}}</ref><ref name="stepmother"/> He witnessed many violent domestic disputes between his parents, who separated when Davis was nine, leading his mother to take him and his siblings back to their maternal grandmother.<ref name="social" /> 

The couple divorced when Davis was 11, and the children were given the choice of whom they would like to live with. Davis and his sisters chose their father, while his brothers chose their mother. Donald later joined his father. Robert, a longshoreman, was frequently unable or unwilling to care for his children, so he had them shuttled among family members, hired caretakers, and women he was romantically involved with.<ref name="upbringing">{{cite news |first=Michael|last=Dougan|title=Davis' turbulent youth is detailed by relatives |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Davis-turbulent-youth-is-detailed-by-relatives-3135425.php|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher=[[Hearst Newspapers]] |location=San Francisco, California|date=July 11, 1996|access-date=August 3, 2012}}</ref> Robert was mentally unstable and suffered from hallucinations; he was reported to have taken a gun outside the home and shot at mirages. Robert would also beat Richard, breaking his jaw on one occasion and pushing him through an interior wall on another, and was known to be harsh with the others.<ref name="social" /> Robert remarried twice, and Richard resented both of his stepmothers.<ref name="stepmother">{{cite news |first=Michael|last=Dougan|date=July 16, 1996|title=Davis' sister recounts his traumatic childhood |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Davis-sister-recounts-his-traumatic-childhood-3134269.php|newspaper=[[The San Francisco Chronicle]]|publisher=[[Hearst Newspapers]]|location=San Francisco, California|access-date=August 3, 2012}}</ref>