Man sentenced to death in rape, murder of girl

AKRON (AP) -- A judge sentenced a man to death Wednesday for the kidnap, rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1996.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove also gave Donald L. Craig, 44, of Akron, three life terms plus 10 years in prison, meaning that even with a commuted death sentence he would be in prison for 40 years.
Craig was convicted July 8 in the attack on Rosie Davenport, who disappeared after visiting a friend's home where Craig was living with the girlfriend's mother. The jury that convicted Craig recommended the death sentence.
Craig was convicted after improved DNA tests linked him to the girl. Earlier tests were inconclusive.
Detectives reopened the case in 2001 after a federal grant paid them to work overtime on unsolved cases. Craig's lawyers tried to establish doubt about the validity of the DNA tests and how the evidence was handled.