FAYETTEVILLE -- John Davis admitted Friday in Washington County Circuit Court that he helped beat his wife to death.
Davis, 29, pleaded guilty Friday to being an accomplice to first-degree murder in the death of Victoria Davis on Aug. 19, 2015.
John Davis and four others held Victoria Davis captive for hours at her house at 433 S. Hill Ave., where they beat and tortured her, according to Fayetteville police. According to a police report, Davis told police that he killed his wife because she wanted a divorce, and said he "shot her up with dope."
Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett said the group beat Victoria Davis with a baseball bat, resulting in her death. Judge Mark Lindsay asked John Davis if that is what happened, and he said it was.
Durrett said he wouldn't discuss details of the plea agreement because the other defendants are awaiting trial.
Davis was sentenced to 37 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He was scheduled for trial beginning Monday and could have faced life in prison if he had been found guilty by a jury. Prosecutors waived the death penalty after learning Davis has a low IQ.
Davis' attorneys filed a motion in June seeking to suppress several statements he made to police. Kent McLemore and Robby Golden contended Davis wasn't read his rights and wasn't of sound mind to understand his right against self-incrimination because of an intellectual disability and the stress of the situation.
Lacy Willett Matthews, a forensic psychologist at the State Hospital, examined Davis in early October. Matthews noted that Davis has an IQ of 71, indicating mild intellectual disability, but said he appeared to be competent.
Doctors at the State Hospital said in February that Davis was mentally fit to be tried. They said he doesn't suffer from a mental disease and has the capacity to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.
Davis chose not to participate in the assessment to determine his mental state at the time of the killing, based on the advice of his attorney, according to the report. He also declined to give doctors an account of the incident.
The other defendants are Mark Chumley, 48; Rebecca Lloyd, 38; Christopher Treat, 32; and Desire Treat, 31. All are charged with accomplice to capital murder. All are being held without bail at the Washington County jail.
John Davis was married to Victoria Davis since at least 2012, according to police. The Treats are married. Chumley was the Davises' roommate, and Lloyd was Chumley's girlfriend, police records say. Christopher Treat is listed in police documents as a friend of John Davis.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Chumley. Grounds for the request are because the killing was done to prevent an arrest and in an especially depraved or cruel manner, according to the notice.
"She was beaten repeatedly," Durrett told a judge at a previous hearing. "She was hooked up to a battery charger. She essentially bled to death from the beating she took. She was beaten with a baseball bat. She was raped with a baseball bat. Those are the acts we allege constitute evidence of disregard for human life."
Durrett said he hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty against the remaining defendants.
Christopher Treat's attorneys filed a motion last year that says tests have determined their client has an IQ of 68, and federal law prohibits a death sentence for offenders who are intellectually disabled at the time of committing capital murder.
Chumley called police after Victoria Davis died and gave his phone to Davis, who told detectives he and other people kept his wife captive and beat her for several hours before destroying evidence from the crime scene, according to police.
Chumley and Christopher Treat admitted to taking part in the slaying, police said in preliminary reports. Davis, Chumley and Treat said Desire Treat also was involved, police said.
Lloyd told police she knew about the crime beforehand, participated in beating Davis and helped the others "in the commission of the crime and helping them dispose of evidence of the crime afterwards," according to an arrest report.
State Desk on 12/02/2017