A 17-year-old from Jacksonville accused of capital murder and aggravated robbery pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Donnell Davis Jr.'s charge of capital murder was reduced to first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 35 years on each count, murder and aggravated robbery, but the sentences will run concurrently because of his age. A request for a juvenile transfer hearing was withdrawn, and a firearm sentencing enhancement was dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Davis stood quietly before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims as senior deputy prosecutor Leigh Patterson briefly explained the state's facts in the case: A meeting to conduct a drug transaction ended in gunfire, with Davis wounded and a teenage victim dead.
"Is that true?" Sims asked after Patterson had finished.
"Yes, sir," Davis said.
Davis' co-defendant, Seth Ray Allen, 18, also was charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery. They have been accused of causing the shooting death of 18-year-old Seth Taylor on July 30.
Davis and Allen were arrested last summer after investigators determined they used social media to meet Taylor under the pretense of buying marijuana but, as Davis would admit later, they actually planned to rob him.
The two met Taylor and another man at the LSL Liquor Store on Arkansas 161 in North Little Rock, where Allen got into the back of Taylor's car, according to an affidavit. Davis approached the driver's side window and pointed a gun at Taylor, telling him to "give it up."
The deal turned into a shootout when Davis fired at Taylor after a witness said he saw Taylor push the gun away, and the witness fired back at Davis using his own firearm.
A wounded Taylor attempted to drive away but crashed in a ditch, the witness said. Taylor died later at a hospital. Davis, who was 16 at the time, was shot in the chest and underwent treatment at Arkansas Children's Hospital. An investigator questioned him there, and he was arrested Aug. 1 after surgery.
Because Davis is younger than 18, the Fair Sentencing of Minors Act signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2017 controlled his sentence and prevented him from serving consecutive time on both robbery and murder, Patterson said in an interview after the hearing.
Had the case gone to a jury trial, Davis could have faced life in prison for capital murder. As a juvenile, he would have been eligible for parole after 30 years, unlike adults convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life.
"The sentence that we gave is 35 years," Patterson said. "He will be parole-eligible somewhere around 24½ years."
Patterson declined to comment on the plea deal, other than to say it was discussed in depth with the family to make sure they felt like justice was served.
Allen is scheduled to stand trial in April.
Metro on 02/28/2020