Murder of Jessie Davis

On December 15, 2008, Ferrell was ordered released after serving one year of her two-year sentence, followed by three years of probation. Jessie Davis' mother and father were in attendance at the court proceeding.

Cutts' trial began on February 4, 2008. On February 11, Cutts took the stand and described Davis' death. He said that he struggled with her in her house and struck her in the throat with his elbow. Cutts testified that he tried to resuscitate Davis after she became unconscious. He also said that he did not call 911 because Davis didn't have a telephone in her house and he didn't know how to turn on her cell phone.

On February 15, 2008, Cutts was convicted of the murder of Davis and the aggravated murder of her unborn child. He was also found guilty of associated charges, including aggravated burglary; gross abuse of a corpse; and child endangering. Cutts faced the possibility of life imprisonment or a death sentence. The jury, in its penalty phase, declined to impose the death penalty.

Bobby Cutts Jr. was sentenced on February 27, 2008, to life imprisonment without the eligibility of parole for 57 years. He must serve each of his murder convictions consecutively.

Davis was last seen shopping at Acme Fresh Market, a local grocery store. Her mother reported her missing on June 15, 2007, when she found her 2-year-old grandson Blake home alone, with bleach spilled on the floor and furniture broken and overturned. In televised reports, Davis' mother (who had last spoken with her daughter two days earlier) reported that Blake kept stating, "Mommy broke the table" and "Mommy's in the rug". At the time of her disappearance, Davis was a resident of Lake Township in Stark County, Ohio.

In July 2007, Jennifer Snyder, a native of Lake Township, Ohio, established Blake's Bright Tomorrow, a trust fund for Blake Davis' college education. On July 21, Snyder organized the Blake's Bright Tomorrow festival and auction, which included signed memorabilia from LeBron James, Joe Theismann, Jerome Bettis, Faith Hill, and Tim McGraw.

Davis' boyfriend, Bobby Lee Cutts Jr. was arrested and charged with two counts of murder on June 23, 2007. Cutts was a police officer in the Canton, Ohio, Police Department, and the father of Davis' son and unborn daughter. The Canton Police Department, which had not considered Cutts a suspect, did not participate in the arrest, which was executed by the FBI and the local Sheriffs department.

On November 5, 2007, as her trial was about to begin, Ferrell agreed to plead guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and complicity to gross abuse of a corpse for her role in Davis' disappearance and death. Under the terms of her plea agreement, Ferrell was sentenced to two years in prison—a sentence that may be lengthened unless Ferrell testifies honestly at the trial of Cutts. The judge said he would consider releasing Ferrell on probation after one year.

Cutts and Myisha Ferrell graduated together in 1995 from GlenOak High School.

Jessie Marie Davis (May 27, 1981 – June 14, 2007) was a murdered, near-term pregnant, 26-year-old American woman first reported missing from her home in Lake Township, Stark County, Ohio on June 15, 2007. The case drew an extraordinary response from the American media. On February 15, 2008, Bobby Lee Cutts Jr., a police officer and the father of her 2-year-old son and unborn daughter, was convicted of the aggravated murders of Davis and their unborn child. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 57 years on February 27, 2008. A high-school friend of Cutts, Myisha Lynne Ferrell, was also later charged.

Cutts (born May 21, 1977, in Canton) is the son of Renee Horne and Bobby Cutts Sr. He was married to, but separated from, another woman at the time of the murder. According to Cutts, the couple had discussed a divorce. His wife formally filed for divorce four days after his arrest. Other allegations of abuse had previously been leveled against Cutts in Stark county.