Fire-death suspect to challenge death penalty’s constitutionality

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Defense lawyers in the death-penalty murder case of Michael A. Davis plan to file a motion challenging the constitutionality of Ohio’s lethal injection method of execution.

At a Tuesday pretrial hearing, Atty. Ronald Yarwood said he and Atty. James Gentile will file the motion on behalf of their client, who is charged with setting the Jan. 23 house fire that killed six people on the city’s East Side.

Davis, 18, of Bennington Avenue, faces an Oct. 6 jury trial on charges contained in a 29-count aggravated murder and aggravated arson indictment with death-penalty specifications.

Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered Davis’ lawyers to file their motion opposing the state’s execution method before the next pretrial hearing, which will be at 8:30 a.m. June 12.

“If a hearing is necessary and witnesses are necessary, then all of that can be done in a range so that the trial will not be delayed,” the judge said of a potential hearing on the constitutionality of lethal injection, which could feature expert witnesses.

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.