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CANTON, Ohio - The state will seek to execute a police officer in the
death of his pregnant girlfriend, and prosecutors want statements made
by the couple's 2-year-old son to be used against him at trial.
Bobby
Cutts Jr. was indicted Thursday on three counts of aggravated murder in
the June death of Jessie Davis, whose disappearance drew national
attention as thousands gathered to search for her near her northeast
Ohio home.
The couple's son Blake provided authorities with
the first clues, saying: "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table.
Mommy's in rug."
Whether the toddler's statements would be admissible at trial is up to
Common Pleas Judge Charles E. Brown Jr. because of the boy's age, said
prosecutor John Ferrero, who wants a jury to hear them.
The
three aggravated murder indictments allege that Cutts killed Davis,
terminated her pregnancy, and caused the death of a viable unborn
child, "baby Chloe." Authorities have not said how she was killed.
Cutts,
30, also faces two counts of gross abuse of a corpse and one count each
of aggravated burglary and endangering children. Prosecutors declined
to elaborate on the reason for the abuse of a corpse charge.
Myisha
Ferrell, a high school classmate of Cutts, was also indicted on charges
of obstructing justice and complicity to abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors
say she helped dispose of Davis' body.
The indictments allege
that Cutts killed Davis at her home on June 14, and that his actions
put Blake in danger. Davis' family says Cutts was also the father of
the girl Davis was due to deliver July 3.
Cutts' attorney, Myron Watson, nor Ferrell's attorney, John Alexander Jr., could be reached for comment later Thursday.
Davis' mother, Patricia Porter, was informed of the indictment Thursday morning.
"As
long as he gets a fair trial and she can explain what happened one day,
that's all she cares about," said attorney Rick Pitinii, the family's
spokesman.
Porter has custody of Blake and is focused on raising him, Pitinii said.
Asked
how Porter felt about the potential of the state executing Blake's
father, Pitinii said, "I don't know that she's comfortable with any of
this. She's comfortable with the fact that prosecutors are doing their
job."
Davis was reported missing when her mother went to her
home to find Blake alone, bedroom furniture toppled and a pool of
bleach on the floor.
Authorities say Davis was killed in the
home near North Canton, about 45 miles south of Cleveland. Davis' body,
still carrying a nearly full-term fetus, was found nine days later
about 25 miles away from her home in a remote area of a park.
Earlier
this month, the Summit County medical examiner said she was unable to
determine how Davis was killed, but ruled the manner of death as
homicide. Investigators had previously stated that the advanced
decomposition of the body would make determining a cause difficult.
Cutts,
who was suspended without pay from his job in June, is being held on a
$5 million bond. Cutts and Ferrell are to be arraigned Friday.
Cutts
faces a minimum of 25 years to life if convicted of aggravated murder.
Ferrell faces one to five years in prison if convicted of obstruction,
and an additional six to 18 months if convicted on the complicity
charge.
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