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Mom sentenced for overdose of her children seeks early release from prison
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A young mother convicted of two counts of felony child endangering after her children, age 21 months and 9 months, had to be revived with the overdose drug naloxone Feb. 2, 2016, is asking to be released early from prison.
Carlisa Davis, 19, of Randolph Street Northwest, was sentenced to 30 months in prison Jan. 4. She has served a little under seven months of her 30-month sentence.
Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court said at the sentencing hearing one of the reasons for sending her to prison was her unwillingness to tell anyone at the hospital that her unresponsive children might have overdosed on drugs.
A prosecutor said Davis’ refusal to tell hospital personnel what might be wrong with the children delayed treatment by 30 minutes.
After administering the drug on one of the children, the child became conscious. Both children were expected to make a full recovery.
Prosecutors said Davis admitted to knowing that her brothers sold drugs out of the home where she lived with her children and her mother. She also said she observed one of her children “playing in powder” when she woke up from a nap.
Michael Partlow, Davis’ attorney, said in a filing that Davis has completed a number of programs in prison and will be able to return to her prior employment upon release from prison.
In a letter to the judge, Davis said if she is released, she plans to live with her grandparents “until I am able to get back on my feet and take care of my children.”
Davis’ grandparents took custody of all three of her children when she went to prison.
Judge McKay has not ruled on the motion. Davis’ appeal of her conviction is also pending with the 11th District Court of Appeals.
In another case, Reggie L. Potts of Northgate Drive in Howland, former Bazetta Township police chief, has asked a third time for Judge McKay to seal the records in Potts’ 1993 and 1994 theft-in-office, falsification and tampering with evidence convictions.
He was fired as chief in 1993 after his conviction.
The theft in office involved letting a friend borrow a car loaned to the police department.
The falsification was writing a letter indicating a man had worked for the Bazetta Police Department who had not.
His tampering charge related to police department drug records.
Judge McKay approved the motion the first time, but an appeals court reversed the decision, saying Potts didn’t qualify because the offenses occurred over five years, not at the same time.
Potts asked the appeals court in 2011 to consider expungement under “unusual and exceptional circumstances,” but that form of expungement is only available when someone has never been convicted of a crime, the appeals court said.
In Potts’ newest motion, he says there have been considerable changes to the statute governing sealing of records that he believes makes him eligible for his records to be sealed.
He said the sealing of the records is appropriate because he has “lived a law-abiding life for a significant period of time” and to help Potts “advance in the workforce.”
A hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.