Letitia Davis, 36




Revised charges filed in Fairmount Park attack

By Ashley Arnold
ken.com

WICHITA, Kansas – After the death of 36 year old Letitia Davis, raped, beaten, burned and ultimately murdered after incidents on November 14th, the wait began for charges to be amended in the case against 26 year old Cornell McNeal changing from attempted capital murder to capital murder: those changes came Wednesday morning.

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“No, not really. We kind of anticipated this happening so we’re prepared,” Mark Rudy with the public defender’s office.

McNeal now faces that charge with an alternative of murder in the first degree as well as one count each of rape and arson.

“The simplest thing right now is it goes from – it means death – the death penalty is an option,” said Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, “and it was not before in an attempted capital murder.”

Police still haven’t said how they were able to link McNeal’s DNA to the crime itself but the district attorney was able to shed some light on why this case is eligible for capital murder charges since it takes a certain set of circumstances for a charge like this to be made.

“In Kansas, it’s very restrictive, multiple deaths,” said Bennett, “a death occurring during the course of a sexual assault obviously that’s the situation with the Fairmount Park situation…So those are the types of cases.”

The case is due to the courts for a preliminary hearing on December 9th, but officials from both the state and the defense side say they don’t believe the case will actually head to court on that date. McNeal’s bond was also increased $1.25 million.

http://ksn.com/2014/11/25/revised-ch...t-park-attack/