Man sentenced to 60 years for rape, murder

FORT SMITH -- A Fort Smith man has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after pleading guilty in Sebastian County Circuit Court to murder and rape charges in the death of his 2½-year-old niece.

In a hearing Thursday, Cohen Davis, 25, was sentenced to 20 years on the rape charge and 40 years for first-degree murder, the sentences to run consecutively. He was given 245 days credit for jail time served since his arrest last year.

He was scheduled to go to trial July 13 on the charges.

Deputy prosecutor Scott Houston said the family of the child approved of the plea agreement.

Davis was arrested in October after his niece died during surgery at Sparks Regional Medical Center. According to police records, Davis, who was the main caregiver of the girl, took the child to the hospital emergency room Oct. 15.

Medical personnel saw bruising on her torso, face, head and genitalia and immediately began critical care. When her condition deteriorated and she lost consciousness, she was taken into surgery, but the doctor could not save her, the records said.

Davis told hospital personnel that the child had fallen down some stairs. When she began to act strangely, he said, he put her into a cold shower but took her to the hospital when she began to throw up.

Results of an autopsy from the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock showed the girl's small intestine was separated, she had extensive bruising all over her body, and there were extensive tears and hemorrhaging in her genitalia.

The autopsy also stated there was extensive soft tissue hemorrhaging in the girl's abdominal cavity.

The medical examiner's report said the girl's injuries were not caused by falling down stairs.

After the child died, Fort Smith police detectives investigated and found a pair of the girl's panties in the trash that had blood and a component of semen on them, records showed. The police obtained a video showing Davis dumping a trash bag containing the panties into the trash bin.

NW News on 07/07/2015

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