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Thread: Cornell Antoine McNeal Sentenced to LWOP in 2014 KS Rape/Murder of Letitia "Tish" Davis

  1. #21
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    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/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #22
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    Cornell McNeal found guilty of capital murder and rape of Letitia Davis

    By Ryan Newton and Alexia Padilla
    KSN News

    WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – A jury has found Cornell McNeal guilty of the capital murder and rape of Letitia Davis. The verdict was read shortly after 3 p.m.

    Davis died in November 2014 after the attack in Wichita’s Fairmount Park. She was found badly burned and beaten in that park. She was able to tell investigators after the attack that she was raped.

    On Thursday morning, the prosecution and defense presented closing arguments.

    The prosecution opened up with one of Letitia’s final words, “I was raped, beaten and set on fire.”

    Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett ran through witness testimonies and how they aligned with the standards needed to convict McNeal of capital murder.

    Meanwhile, the defense reminded the jury that they must presume McNeal is not guilty, adding if there is a single reasonable doubt, they must acquit him of the charge.

    “He didn’t commit a single injury anywhere on his body, and he told you five days later, injuries won’t heal. That’s reasonable doubt. How does this woman get hurt this bad and fight back this hard and not leave a mark on Cornell McNeal. That’s reasonable doubt,” defense attorney Peter Conley said.

    “You’ve heard all of the evidence. No woman consents, consents to the injuries she sustained and that the killing was done in the condition of or subsequent to such rape. He had to kill her. He left his DNA behind,” District Attorney Marc Bennett.

    McNeal could face the death penalty when he is sentenced.

    https://www.ksn.com/news/local/jury-...ornell-mcneal/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #23
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    More Info.

    After the verdict was read, the prosecutors made a presumptive sentence to pull the death penalty off the table.

    “Family just couldn’t do it anymore. They just wanted this done, and I totally sympathize with it is gut-wrenching to put families through that,” Bennett said. “The sentence for a conviction for capital murder is life without parole, and that’s what the family, that’s all they really wanted.”

    https://www.ksn.com/news/local/jury-...ornell-mcneal/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #24
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    Man sentenced to life in prison for 2014 deadly fire, assault on Wichita woman

    By KWCH News Staff

    WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A man will spend the rest of his natural life in prison with no chance of getting out, a Sedgwick County judge has ruled.

    Cornell McNeal was convicted of capital murder in July for assaulting Letitia Davis and setting her on fire in 2014. She died from her injuries days later.

    After McNeal was found guilty last month, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennet said the death penalty was off the table. He said his office, instead pursued a life in prison without parole to get the case to trial and finally give the victim’s family closure.

    “What Letitia Davis endured speaks far more eloquently than I could to tell this court what it should do with Mr. McNeal,” said Assistant District Attorney Shannon Wilson during Thursday’s hearing.

    The defense motioned for a re-trial and an acquittal. The judge denied the motions saying nothing in the trial would have misled or mis-instructed the jury. The state said the life in prison sentence is what’s necessary under the law.

    “The bottom line is, there’s mandatory language, the capital sentencing statute and that is that this defendant should spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. That is the only appropriate sentence for what this man did,” said Wilson.

    McNeal was given an opportunity to make a statement but chose not to.

    https://www.kwch.com/2022/08/18/man-...wichita-woman/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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