Kakaris is charged with one count of aggravated murder and two counts of murder on a three‑count indictment out of Butler County Common Pleas Court.
The charges follow a three-year investigation into the shooting deaths of 25-year-old roommates Marvin Tyrone “Ty” Davis Jr. and Daniel Fitzgerald, who were killed Feb. 4, 2023, at their home at 707 15th Ave. Middletown police said they believe the victims were known to Kakaris.
Police told the Journal‑News that an “accumulation of evidence” led to the arrest and that the case has remained under active investigation since 2023.
Kakaris was arrested without incident and booked into the Middletown City Jail.
Kakaris previously pleaded guilty in June 2022 in Butler County Common Pleas Court to attempted improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, a fifth-degree felony. He was sentenced to five years of community control, which he violated in August 2024 and April 2025.
His community control was revoked in August 2025, and he was sentenced to 90 days in the Butler County Jail.
What happened in 2023
On Feb. 4, 2023, Fitzgerald and Davis returned to their 15th Avenue home after spending the evening at a bar on Elliott Drive. By 3:27 a.m., both had been shot.
Fitzgerald died at the scene of a gunshot wound, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office. Davis died of multiple gunshot wounds after being taken to Atrium Medical Center in Warren County, according to Warren County Coroner Dr. Russell Uptegrove.
Investigators found no evidence of forced entry and no indication that either man fired a weapon in self-defense.
In February 2024, Middletown police said the case remained open as detectives reviewed electronic devices and executed search warrants to determine who killed the men and why.
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