October 16, 2015 at 5:47 p.m.
Davis will face life in prison
Prosecutor seeking sentence in murder of 5-week-old girl
A man accused of murdering a 5-week-old girl now faces the possibility of life in prison.
Jay County prosecutor Wes Schemenaur on Thursday filed paperwork in Jay Circuit Court to pursue a sentence of life in prison without parole for Dalton R. Davis, who is charged with the September murder of his girlfriend’s daughter, Lillian Grace Lloyd. Davis is currently being held in Jay County Jail awaiting trial.
The standard sentence for murder in Indiana is 45 to 65 years, with an advisory sentence of 55 years. But a prosecutor can seek life in prison without parole if one of a list of aggravating factors is met. One of those is that the victim is younger than 12 years old.
“Having done a little bit of research into the matter and reading some of the cases … life without parole is generally reserved for those crimes that shock the conscience of the community,” Schemenaur said, referencing an Indiana Supreme Court ruling. “I just felt that, looking at everything, that would be an appropriate sentence for the jury to consider in this case.”
Davis, 21, is accused of holding Lloyd by the legs and slamming her body against concrete two or three times, with her head and back hitting the ground. He allegedly admitted the crime to police and demonstrated the action using a doll, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
Preliminary autopsy results showed that Lloyd died instantaneously of a severe skull fracture.
The incident occurred late Sept. 28 at the 8804 N. 550 West home Davis shared with his girlfriend, Courtney Lloyd, her daughter, her mother, another couple and their children. According to the affidavit, Davis was angry about an earlier argument he had with Courtney Lloyd, who was asleep. He took Lillian Grace Lloyd from the glider in which she had been sleeping, carried her outside, allegedly “forcefully struck her body on the concrete …” and then brought her back inside and placed her in a bassinet.
When Courtney Lloyd woke up and went to check on her daughter, she found her not breathing and called 911. Jay Emergency Medical Service transported Lillian Grace Lloyd to Bluffton Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead early Sept. 29.
Davis was arrested Sept. 30 after allegedly admitting to the crime during an interview at Jay County Sheriff’s Office.
Jay County prosecutor Wes Schemenaur on Thursday filed paperwork in Jay Circuit Court to pursue a sentence of life in prison without parole for Dalton R. Davis, who is charged with the September murder of his girlfriend’s daughter, Lillian Grace Lloyd. Davis is currently being held in Jay County Jail awaiting trial.
The standard sentence for murder in Indiana is 45 to 65 years, with an advisory sentence of 55 years. But a prosecutor can seek life in prison without parole if one of a list of aggravating factors is met. One of those is that the victim is younger than 12 years old.
“Having done a little bit of research into the matter and reading some of the cases … life without parole is generally reserved for those crimes that shock the conscience of the community,” Schemenaur said, referencing an Indiana Supreme Court ruling. “I just felt that, looking at everything, that would be an appropriate sentence for the jury to consider in this case.”
Davis, 21, is accused of holding Lloyd by the legs and slamming her body against concrete two or three times, with her head and back hitting the ground. He allegedly admitted the crime to police and demonstrated the action using a doll, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
Preliminary autopsy results showed that Lloyd died instantaneously of a severe skull fracture.
The incident occurred late Sept. 28 at the 8804 N. 550 West home Davis shared with his girlfriend, Courtney Lloyd, her daughter, her mother, another couple and their children. According to the affidavit, Davis was angry about an earlier argument he had with Courtney Lloyd, who was asleep. He took Lillian Grace Lloyd from the glider in which she had been sleeping, carried her outside, allegedly “forcefully struck her body on the concrete …” and then brought her back inside and placed her in a bassinet.
When Courtney Lloyd woke up and went to check on her daughter, she found her not breathing and called 911. Jay Emergency Medical Service transported Lillian Grace Lloyd to Bluffton Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead early Sept. 29.
Davis was arrested Sept. 30 after allegedly admitting to the crime during an interview at Jay County Sheriff’s Office.
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