Jury Spares Ex-Cop Who Killed Pregnant Girlfriend

Feb. 27, 2008— -- A former Ohio police officer was sentenced to at least 57 years in prison today for killing his pregnant lover and her unborn child, after a jury voted to spare his life.

Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 57 years. He had faced a possible death sentence for murdering Jessie Davis and her unborn child, who was to be named Chloe.

"Bobby Cutts took my sister from me. You took a chunk out of my heart," Stephanie Davis said, reading from a letter she read for her cousin, Caylon Davis, Jessie's adopted brother, at a hearing before Stark County Common Pleas Judge Charles Brown Jr.

Cutts, who appeared to choke up at times during his sentencing, did not speak. During a hearing earlier this week, he pleaded for his life, telling the jury in a quivering voice that he accepted responsibility for his crimes. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm asking you to spare my life," Cutts said, according to The Associated Press.

Cutts cried on the witness stand during his trial as he said he accidentally killed Jessie Davis by elbowing her in the throat during an argument. He hid her body in a park, finally leading police to her body after a nine-day search that generated national attention.

A jury convicted Cutts of murder for Davis' death and of aggravated murder for the death of her fetus.

Cutts, 30, told the jury that he swung his elbow at Davis during a confrontation in her bedroom when she refused to allow him to leave her home. The blow to her throat, which he testified happened after she bit his finger, knocked her back, killing her as their 2-year-old son, Blake, slept, he said.

Davis' sister, Whitney Davis, said Cutts' only regret was getting caught. "When I hear Blake cry, I hate you," she said at today's sentencing. "You have not lost someone. You got rid of someone who was an inconvenience for you"

When police arrived at Davis' condo, they found Blake alone. Police said he told them, "Mommy's in the rug."

Cutts, who as a cop had emergency response training, said he performed CPR and then searched for rubbing alcohol to use as a smelling salt to revive the woman. When he couldn't find any, he said, he retrieved a bleach container and tried bleach, knocking the container over and spilling bleach on the floor. Davis did not respond.

"This can't be happening," Cutts recalled thinking as he wrapped her body in a comforter. "This is not real. This is a bad dream."