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Confession questioned in Youngstown arson that killed 6
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CHARGED: Michael Davis, 18, of 817 Bennington Ave., is charged with six counts of aggravated murder and 11 counts of aggravated arson in the Wednesday morning fire at 1645 Stewart Ave. that killed two women and four children. He was arraigned today in municipal court. Good leads swiftly brought about Davis’ arrest.
The judge must rule on the statements’ admissibility.
YOUNGSTOWN — Lawyers for the young man accused of setting a Jan. 23 house fire that killed six people want his statements to police excluded from evidence, because they say he was illegally arrested — and did not knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waive his right to remain silent.
Michael A. Davis, 18, of Bennington Avenue, however, testified that he “somewhat” understood his right to remain silent because of his prior dealings with police as a juvenile.
In addition, Detective Sgt. Patrick Kelly of the city police testified he read Davis his rights before videotaping an interview with him at the police station, and Davis then told him he understood his rights and signed the waiver-of-rights form.
Kelly acknowledged Davis told him he hadn’t completed the 10th grade and had just turned 18.
The testimony was given Tuesday in an evidence-suppression hearing before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will rule on the statements’ admissibility in Davis’ trial.
Davis faces an Oct. 6 jury trial on a 29-count aggravated-murder and aggravated-arson indictment with death-penalty specifications in what authorities call the largest mass murder in the city’s history.
Carol Crawford, 46; her daughter Jennifer R. Crawford, 23; and Jennifer’s four children, Ranaisha, 8; Jeannine, 5; Aleisha, 3; and Brandon, 2; died in the Stewart Avenue blaze on the city’s East Side.
Kelly testified that police didn’t have any suspects in mind and didn’t arrest anyone when they went to the Bennington Avenue house, from which Davis testified he made a 911 call to report the fire.
Police transported Davis, who had just become an adult, and his two brothers and another boy, all juveniles, from that house to the police station for questioning, Kelly said.
Kelly said he didn’t threaten Michael Davis, who was the last to be interviewed, or promise him anything, but police told him the juveniles had implicated him in the fire.
Kelly testified police obtained an arrest warrant for Michael Davis from city Prosecutor Jay Macejko only after Davis confessed during the police station interview.
Michael Davis testified police handcuffed him and his brothers as they left the Bennington Avenue residence. “I thought I was under arrest when they handcuffed me at the house,” Davis testified.
Davis acknowledged that police never threatened him and that he never asked for a lawyer nor said he wanted to end the interview.
Davis said police did not read him his rights when they handcuffed him outside his residence. The police interviews were not played in court during the hearing.
The defense lawyers are James Gentile and Ron Yarwood, and the case is being prosecuted by Dawn Cantalamessa and J. Michael Thompson, assistant county prosecutors.