Testimony wraps up in capital murder trial for Cornell McNeal
By Grant DeMars
KWCH News
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The trial for Cornell McNeal is coming to a close. McNeal is accused of raping and beating Letitia Davis in 2014 and then setting her on fire. He’s charged with capital murder.
Prosecutors in the case wrapped up testimony Wednesday morning. The final witness, Mallory Russo, said McNeal approached her at a bar near the crime scene. She testified that McNeal asked to borrow a lighter and then walked off with it towards Fairmount Park where the attack happened.
“He just started walking off that way after I gave him the lighter, and I was like, ‘That’s my lighter!?’” Russo said. “He just kept going.”
For the defense, McNeal’s mother, uncle, brother and sister took the stand. Each said they saw him in the days following the attack against Letitia Davis. They said there were no physical signs of a struggle like bruises, scratch marks, or the smell of fire. They also said they didn’t notice anything off about him.
The defense’s most important witness was a man whose son was in the burn unit with Davis. He claims he heard some of her visitors discussing the attack, saying they knew who did it and how, and that it wasn’t McNeal.
The man said he reported the information to the police. The detective he spoke to, was also on the stand Wednesday.
“He remembered the conversation and said that he was referring to an incident that occurred in Topeka around 20 years ago at that time. And he was discussing what burn units do and how they do good work,” said Christian Cory, a former homicide detective for the Wichita Police Department.
Cory said he looked into that case and never found anything. The defense argues since there was DNA evidence pointing to McNeal investigators failed to thoroughly follow up on additional leads.
After four days of testimony, witness testimony wrapped up today from both prosecutors and the defense on Wednesday. The jury was dismissed early but will return Thursday for jury instructions and closing arguments.
There are no black jurors, and before the trial started, the defense argued that the makeup of the jury does not accurately represent the community. The judge said that since there are Hispanic and Asian jurors, meaning it is diverse. Also, a majority of those jurors are women.
A verdict in the trial is expected as soon as Thursday.
https://www.kwch.com/2022/07/13/test...ornell-mcneal/
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