Ex-Cop Indicted In Ohio Mom Murder
A grand jury indicted a former Canton police officer Thursday on three counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn daughter.
Bobby Cutts Jr. could receive the death penalty if convicted in the June death of Jessie Davis, whose disappearance drew national attention as thousands gathered to search for her in the area surrounding her northeast Ohio home.
The murder indictments allege that Cutts killed Davis, terminated her pregnancy, and caused the death of a viable unborn child, "baby Chloe." Cutts, 30, also faces two counts of gross abuse of a corpse and one count each of aggravated burglary and endangering children.
Myisha Ferrell, a high school classmate of Cutts, was indicted on charges of obstructing justice and complicity in helping dispose of Davis' body.
The indictment against Cutts alleges he entered Davis' home, where she was killed on June 14, and that his actions put their son, 2 1/2-year-old Blake Davis, in danger.
Davis' family says Cutts was also the father of the baby girl who was due to be delivered July 3. Cutts is being held on a $5 million bond.
Davis was reported missing when her mother went to her home and found Blake in a dirty diaper, the bedroom furniture toppled and a pool of bleach on the floor.
Blake provided authorities with the first clues, saying: "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug."
Authorities say Davis was killed in her 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, Summit County medical examiner Lisa Kohler said she was unable to determine how Davis was killed.
Kohler ruled that the manner of death was homicide but offered no other details, listing the cause as "unspecified homicidal violence."
Investigators had previously stated that the advanced decomposition of the body would make determining a cause difficult.