Davis to be sentenced for murders this morning

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s worst mass murderer learns today how many life sentences he’ll serve for the arson deaths of two women and four children.

Michael A. Davis, 18, of Bennington Avenue was due in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court at 11 a.m. for sentencing by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. Last week, the jury of eight women and four men could have voted for the death penalty but opted for life in prison with eligibility for parole after 30 years on each of the six counts of aggravated murder.

Davis, described as abused and borderline retarded during the penalty phase of the trial, has been in custody since Jan. 23, the day of the fatal fire. Court testimony revealed that he confessed to using an ignitable liquid to set fire to 1645 Stewart Ave. at 5:30 a.m. while the Crawford family and overnight guests slept. The motive was a stolen cell phone.

Carole Crawford, 46; her daughter Jennifer, 23; and Jennifer’s children, Ranaisha, 8; Jeannine, 5; Aleisha, 3; and Brandon, 2, all perished from smoke inhalation. Five others escaped and eight firefighters were injured.

Davis was convicted of six counts of murder with death specification and 19 counts of aggravated arson. The arson convictions take into account the six who died, five who survived and injured firefighters.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or vindy.com