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Thread: Donald Hugh Davidson, Jr. - Florida

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    Donald Hugh Davidson, Jr. - Florida



    Roseann Kasama Welsh





    Sex predator arrested following manhunt in woman's death, child's abduction in Clay County


    By Jim Schoettler and Dana Treen
    jacksonville.com

    Clay County authorities arrested a registered sexual predator wanted for questioning Tuesday in the death of a woman and the abduction of a young girl, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.

    Donald Hugh Davidson Jr., 34, of the 5700 block of Canvasback Road, Middleburg, was charged with capital sexual battery of a victim younger than 12, kidnapping and auto theft.

    He was taken into custody about 2:30 a.m. on Blanding Boulevard near Jefferson Avenue in Orange Park after he was spotted driving a stolen minivan. He was pulled over and taken into custody without incident, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

    Earlier authorities said they responded to the 4800 block of Mayflower Street and found 35-year-old Roseann Kasama Welsh dead about 6:05 p.m. Monday. Her 13-year-old son discovered her body.

    Deputies indicated Welsh was killed, but didn’t provide specifics. Her grandfather declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

    A 10-year-old girl was abducted and possibly sexually assaulted but has been located and is safe, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    Davidson has prior convictions for sexual battery and aggravated battery, the Sheriff’s Office said.

    He was released from prison in September following a 2010 sentencing on two counts of lewd molestation and an aggravated battery on a pregnant female, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

    The convictions came after Davidson violated a 2006 probation on convictions of touching young girls inappropriately in 2004 and 2005. He was still on probation in June 2010 when he was charged in the attack of a 22-year-old woman who was four months pregnant.

    According to that arrest report, a strange-acting Davidson appeared at the woman’s Middleburg home on Chicory Circle about a truck she had for sale. The report said he asked her to strip and have sex. He also told her he was using cocaine.

    The report said the woman knew a cousin of Davidson’s, who she called and who told her to bring Davidson to his house. But Davidson refused to leave then attacked the woman, choking her around the neck and knocking her to the floor, despite her crying out for the assault to stop and that she was pregnant. She was able to escape and climbed a fence to a neighbor’s, the report said.

    Davidson appeared at the same hospital where the woman was taken and complained of chest pains. He told investigators he knew that the victim was pregnant because she told him so two or three months earlier.

    When Davidson was apprehended Tuesday, an ankle bracelet monitored by the state Department of Corrections had been removed, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Mary Justino.

    Corrections spokesman McKinley Lewis said when tracking bracelets are removed, they immediately alert the wearer’s probation officer, who then must contact the appropriate law enforcement agency. He said Clay
    County was told that Davidson’s bracelet had been removed but did not have details about the timing.

    “It would have been within minutes,” he said.

    He did not know the frequency with which a bracelet reports a wearer’s actual location or how soon the probation officer would be alerted if Davidson moved away from an area where he was allowed to be.

    Following Davidson’s arrest, crisis-intervention teams were on standby for Wilkinson junior and elementary schools, Justino said.

    A Florida Department of Law Enforcement database shows about 130 sex offenders within three miles of Davidson’s home address and the address where the attack occurred. The two residences are close enough there is some overlap in the data.

    Davidson was living at the same address as another sex offender, according to the Department of Law Enforcement.

    A briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Sheriff’s Office.

    http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2...ilds-abduction
    "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.”
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    Edited:

    Sheriff: Sex predator killed woman, abducted and raped child, left in family's van


    By Elizabeth Campbell
    News4JAX.com

    MIDDLEBURG, Fla. - A 34-year-old sexual predator on controlled release from prison cut off his GPS monitor Monday afternoon, and within hours had stabbed to death a 37-year-old woman, abducted and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl, then fled in a stolen minivan, according to Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler.

    Beseler said Roseanne Welsh (pictured below) was found dead by her son Monday inside their Middleburg home at 4829 Mayflower Street just after 6 p.m. Within minutes, deputies learned a 10-year-old child was kidnapped.

    While deputies were investigating, the missing child approached, having been dropped off near the home. She identified her attacker as a friend of her father.

    "We could have had to homicides, easily on our hands," Beseler said. "The 10-year-old victim handled things very well and is probably responsible for her own safe return."

    About the same time, Florida Department of Corrections notified the Sheriff's Office that Donald Davidson had apparently removed the his tracking device.

    After a manhunt that involved the Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service, Davidson was arrested during a traffic stop on Blanding Bouelvard in Orange Park at 2:30 a.m. and booked on charges of kidnapping, capital sexual battery and auto theft.

    Beseler said prosecutors will seek to add a murder charge on Davidson on Wednesday.

    Deputies said he was taken into custody without incident and was questioned. He was booked into the Clay County jail on charges of kidnapping, capital sexual assault and auto theft and ordered held without bond.

    "It is a a horrible situation. Our hearts go out to that family," Beseler said. "They're doing as well as can be expected right now."

    https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/...in-familys-van
    "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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    Sexual predator Donald Davidson held on no bond

    By Elizabeth Campbell
    News4JAX.com

    Middleburg, Fla. - Donald Davidson Jr. has been held on no bond for kidnapping, capital sexual battery, and grand theft auto. His next court date will be on January 7th.

    The 34-year-old sexual predator who was on controlled release from prison, cut off his GPS monitor late Monday afternoon, and within hours had stabbed 37-year-old Roseann Welsh to death, according to Clay County's Sheriff, Rick Beseller.

    Davidson then took off in a stolen minivan with the girl. She was able to get back home within the hour, but Davidson managed to elude a manhunt by sheriff's deputies and U.S. marshals for about eight hours.

    Davidson remained in the Clay County Jail and appeared before a judge via video monitor. He's facing charges of kidnapping, capital sexual battery and auto theft and held without bond.

    Prosecutors are expected to add murder to the charges against Davidson as early as Wednesday.

    "The little girl was so young. And for the little boy to just walk in and find his mom like that, I couldn't imagine. It's sad." said Brooke Hygema, a neighbor of the family. She adds that "just seeing the girl screaming for her mom knowing that you won't be able to talk to her anymore, it was really heartbreaking actually."

    People in the rural Middleburg neighborhood still can't believe what happened in their quiet community.

    News4Jax looked into the history of the Middleburg home where her 13-year-old son discovered his mom's body Tuesday night. Police have been called out to that home about 200 times in the past dozen years. The majority of the calls have been for medical reasons because a person in the home had a medical condition but, there have also been calls for suicide threats, assault, a fire or explosion. The most serious call was just after 6 p.m. Monday, initially listed as a suicide and stolen vehicle. It turned out to be the murder of Welsh and the kidnapping of the 10-year-old girl.

    Sheriff Beseler wondered if new and harsher sex predator laws came too late to stop this tragedy, saying that Davidson had done everything required of him by law since his last arrest in 2010.

    "There is always second guessing and armchair quarterbacking about whether or not somebody had been in prison for a crime to have occurred, and if we had a crystal ball we could look into it and tell who's going to do things, and we could prevent everything. But unfortunately he had complied with everything at the log currently requires for sexual predators." said Beseller.

    http://www.news4jax.com/news/sexual-...court/30032644
    "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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    Murder charge filed in Monday stabbing death of Middleburg woman

    By Joe Daraskevich
    jacksonville.com

    Donald Hugh Davidson Jr., a registered sexual predator, is now charged with murder in Monday’s stabbing death of a Middleburg woman on top of previous charges, according to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.

    It is not yet known whether the charge will be first- or second-degree murder, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

    Davidson, 34, of Canvasback Road in Middleburg was arrested about eight hours after the slaying of 35-year-old Roseann Kasama Welsh at her Mayflower Street home.

    A 10-year-old girl who showed up at the home was abducted and attacked. Davidson was originally charged with her abduction and sexual assault, as well as the theft of a minivan at the home.

    Davidson was spotted driving the van on Blanding Boulevard early the next morning and was taken into custody.

    http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2...ddleburg-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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    Davidson indicted, state to seek death penalty

    GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Clay County Grand Jury indicted Donald Hugh Davidson, Jr., 34, the morning of Dec. 17 for the December 1 murder of 35-year-old Roseanne Kasama Welsh who was stabbed to death in her home on Canvasback Road in Middleburg.

    Davidson was indicted on charges of murder in the first degree, attempted sexual battery, four counts of sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, kidnapping and grand theft auto.

    The state has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in this case.

    Davidson is housed in the Clay County Jail without bond. His next court date is currently scheduled for Jan. 7.

    Records show Davidson was arrested for sexual battery in February 2005 and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under age 12 in December 2004. In June 2010, he was arrested for a felony count of aggravated battery on a convicted female. Sheriff Rick Beseler said upon his release from state prison on Sept. 23, Davidson had complied with all of the state laws governing sexual predators until he cut off his monitored ankle bracelet on Monday afternoon. Davidson reported a second time to CCSO on Nov. 26 when he moved out of the Canvasback Road home and moved into the Rodeway Inn in Orange Park for one day.

    http://www.claytodayonline.com/ee/cl...-death-penalty

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    Donald Davidson seeks to forgo trial, head straight to death row

    By Anne Schindler
    The Florida Times-Union

    After four-and-a-half years of delay, Donald Davidson’s death penalty trial was set to begin in June.

    But at his final pretrial hearing Tuesday, he stunned prosecutors, the judge, even his own attorneys, saying he wanted to plead guilty.

    Though not unprecedented, pleading guilty in a death penalty case is exceedingly rare. And it hasn’t happened since the state adopted new laws requiring unanimous jury decisions in death penalty cases.

    “It’s a first for me,” Davidson’s attorney Mark Wright told Circuit Judge Don Lester with a small laugh. “I don’t really know how to proceed with a decision like that.”

    Davidson is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and capital sexual battery, stemming from a grisly December 2014 crime. He is alleged to have assaulted and murdered 35-year-old Roseann Welsh in her Middleburg home, then kidnapped and raped her 10-year-old daughter. He was a registered sexual predator at the time. Up until this point, he has pleaded not guilty.

    Death penalty cases are typically split into a guilt phase, and – if a jury finds a defendant guilty – a penalty phase, during which the jury decides whether to impose a sentence of death or life in prison.

    Davidson’s attorney said his client wanted to dispense with both phases and have the judge decide the matter outright.

    “Of course we spent a little bit of time – to be candid with the court – trying to talk him out of it,” Wright told the judge, “but that was the decision that he made.”

    Criminal defense attorney Ann Finnell, who isn’t connected to the case, said before the state’s death penalty procedures changed, defendants would occasionally plead guilty in death cases. But the new procedures are generally interpreted to mean that a jury, not a judge, makes the recommendation of either life in prison or death.

    A judge can ignore that recommendation, but that would be unlikely, and probably politically untenable.

    Finnell says that even if Donaldson was permitted to skip the guilt phase and forgo a jury trial, prosecutors would still have to present evidence to the judge in order to get a death sentence.

    “The judge, as a fact-finder, would have to go through the same process as a jury would,” Finnell said. “In other words -- has the state proved at least one aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt, and is that sufficient for the death penalty?”

    Still, it was not clear if Davidson was fully committed to his plan. Shortly after Wright laid out the three options they had discussed with their client – the third being his desire to forgo a trial entirely -- Davidson interjected.

    “Your honor, I decided with option number 2, that Mark [Wright] had just explained,” he said.

    Judge Lester noted that was “a little bit different from what I heard” and wondered if “your thinking may be going back and forth a little bit.”

    Pressing for clarity, he asked, “So is your current thinking that you want to bypass the guilt phase, plead guilty and have penalty phase?”

    “Yessir,” Davidson replied.

    Given what he called “obviously very weighty matters,” Lester said he would give the defendant another day to mull it over.

    “I’m going to pass your case until we’re going to reconvene tomorrow,” the judge said. “I’m going to give you an opportunity to think about this some more, and also to talk about this with your attorney some more. And then we’ll come back tomorrow, and whatever your decision is that day, then that’s the way we’ll go.”

    Finnell said she thought the judge’s decision to give the matter extra time was smart, given the dissonance of a defendant essentially asking the state to execute him.

    “The bottom line is, life in prison is a pretty terrible thing for anyone to endure,” Finnell said. “Faced with that prospect, I’m not sure how I would deal with it, frankly.”

    Court resumes at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

    https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20...t-to-death-row
    "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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    'Absolutely sir': Donald Davidson pleads guilty in death penalty case

    At one point, the child victim's father, too distraught to continue listening, stormed out of the courtroom

    By First Coast News

    Accused murderer and rapist Donald Davidson pleaded guilty in his death penalty case Wednesday with his attorney saying he “wants to get this over with”.

    Davidson returned to court after his stunner Tuesday – announcing he wanted to plead guilty to capital murder and sex assault charges and receive the death penalty.

    Davidson sat through today’s hour-long proceeding with his head hanging down.

    Other than responding to the judge’s questions with "yes sir" he said very little. But much was said about his crime, as prosecutor Leh Hutton gave a chronology of the afternoon of December 1, 2014, in graphic detail.

    After Davidson attempted to rape 35-year-old Roseann Welsh in her Middleburg home, Hutton said, her 10-year-old daughter arrived home on the school bus.

    "Both he and the victim heard a school bus coming," Hutton said. "The victim immediately knew that was her daughter 'MS' that was being dropped off. When she heard the bus stop, she essentially freaked out. She feared for the life of her child and she broke free of him."

    Davidson caught and strangled Welsh with a shoelace, then stabbed her in the neck three times.

    At that point, Hutton said, "he came out into the kitchen and found 'MS' at the kitchen table doing her homework. He proceeded to drop his pants and tell her to 'strip' -- his words."

    At that point, the girl's father, too distraught to continue listening, stormed out of the courtroom.

    Davidson showed no reaction during the narrative. However, as part of his negotiations over the past 24 hours, he did agree to allow prosecutors to use recorded interviews with his child victim instead of requiring her to appear and testify. He told the judge, "I want to spare the victims from coming to trial."

    Even though Davidson pleaded guilty today, the case is not over. On June 10, the judge will hear evidence from the Medical Examiner. And on June 27, he will hear the balance of the sentencing phase testimony, including experts who will testify on Davidson's behalf.

    Judge Don Lester will then by himself weight the aggravating and mitigating factors, and decide whether to impose a sentence of life in prison or death.

    https://www.firstcoastnews.com/artic...e-c7021a2f66a6
    "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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    Sexual predator convicted in woman's murder to be sentenced in 2 weeks

    Donald Davidson Jr., a sexual predator convicted of murder in the 2014 killing of Roseann Welsh and sexual battery of her 10-year-old daughter, will be sentenced by a judge in Clay County court later this month.

    Davidson waived his right to a jury trial and pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder, attempted sexual battery of a victim over 12 years old, four counts of sexual battery on a victim under 12, lewd or lascivious molestation, kidnapping and grand theft auto.

    On Monday morning, the medical examiner, Dr. Valerie Rao, testified about how Welsh died. The sentencing hearing will resume June 24 before Circuit Judge Don Lester, who will then decide if Davidson will be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison.

    When arrested, Davidson already had a long criminal history and was a convicted sexual predator. In 2005, Davidson was convicted of committing lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 12, and he also has priors convictions for aggravated battery, sexual battery and theft.

    Investigators said Davidson cut off his GPS monitor while on controlled release from prison when he strangled, stabbed and killed Welsh in her Middleburg home. After killing Welsh (pictured, right), investigators said Davidson stole her minivan, kidnapped her 10-year-old daughter and sexually assaulted her. He let her go and she managed to get home.

    The victim’s son returned home several hours later but was locked out and told by Davidson, a boyhood friend of Welsh's husband, that his mother was not home. When the boy returned home later, he found his mother dead on the bathroom floor, and her van and his younger sister gone.

    "I was one of the detectives in this case and it still brings me to tears to think about that day and the interview with her poor son," Clay County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chris Padgett said. "He knew he’d never see his mother again and felt as though he should have done more for her and his sister."

    After an extensive manhunt, Davidson was arrested driving on Blanding Boulevard. A search revealed the knife used in the crime and Davidson admitted to planning and attempting to sexually assault the woman in her home.

    Davidson was one of dozens of sexual predators living within walking distance of the Middleburg home where he killed Welsh and abducting her daughter.

    https://www.news4jax.com/news/florid...woman-s-murder
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    Prosecutor, family of woman murdered by sex offender describe trauma

    Clay County judge to decide whether Donald Davidson should live or die

    By Allyson Henning
    News4JAX.com

    GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. - The sexual predator who killed a Middleburg woman and sexually assaulted her daughter in 2014 will soon know whether he will be sentenced to death or life in prison.

    Donald Davidson Jr. pleaded guilty last month to killing 37-year-old Roseann Welsh in her Middleburg home five years ago. A sentencing hearing began Monday in Clay County.

    Investigators said Davidson had cut off his GPS monitor while on controlled release from prison when he strangled, stabbed and killed Welsh in her Middleburg home. After killing Welsh, investigators said Davidson stole her minivan, kidnapped and sexually assaulted her daughter before letting her go.

    Prosecutors said before Welsh died, she heard her daughter’s school bus pull up outside. They said she screamed while she was fighting for her life, knowing she was dying, but also that her daughter was about to walk into their home, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

    Welsh’s son, who found her body in their Middleburg home, stood before Judge Don Lester and described how that day in 2014 changed his life.

    While reading his victim impact statement aloud, he said he is constantly reminded of what happened to his mother and sister. Welsh’s son also said the anger boils up inside of him to the point where he wants to explode. He told the judge he wants all of this to be over so his family can start to heal.

    Other family members, including Welsh’s aunt and husband, wrote impact statements that were read in court.

    “My family was devastated by the murder and it shook my faith in God which I am still struggling with today. 2014 was a terrible year,” Welsh’s aunt wrote. "Her murder was like a gut punch that has destroyed my family forever.”

    “The loss of my wife, Roseann, has resulted in the loss of my pride, my honor, and my dignity. As a man, I isolate myself from others now because I feel like I am a failure to the system of things. I feel undermined, angry, and abandoned. This is how the loss of my wife, Roseann, has impacted me. No words can describe it, but I am doing my best,” wrote Welsh’s husband.

    State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who is personally handling this case, said the level of detail given about Welsh's death was necessary to demonstrate that it was a violent attack.

    “He strangled her with so much force, the capillaries in her cheeks burst, the blood vessels in her eyes and eyelids ruptured, the muscles in her neck hemorrhaged,” Nelson said.

    The State Attorney’s Office is pushing for Davidson to be put to death.

    Davidson’s defense attorney described the crimes he pleaded guilty to as horrendous but said he believes the proper sentence for his client is life without the possibility of parole.

    Davidson once told the judge he had been treated for what he called a “schizo disease” and that he was using cocaine at the time of the murder.

    When court reconvenes Tuesday morning, defense witnesses, including Davidson's family, a friend, his pastor and a landlord are expected to testify.

    It will be up to Judge Lester to make the final ruling.

    https://www.news4jax.com/news/florid...onald-davidson
    "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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    77 Reasons Why: Defense lawyers submit list of reasons Donald Davidson’s life should be spared

    Sexually abused, raised in “extreme filth,” lawyers seek mercy for admitted rapist and murderer

    Donald Davidson faces a possible death sentence in September, having confessed to the brutal 2014 rape and kidnapping of a child and murder of her mother.

    As part of his unusual plea in a death penalty case, Davidson did not contest his guilt.

    But his lawyers nonetheless filed a list of considerations for Circuit Judge Don Lester to consider before imposing a sentence.

    The list was presented at the final hearing in the case – a so-called Spencer Hearing, at which lawyers can present any defenses not introduced at trial.

    The list includes details of Davidson’s deprived and abusive upbringing, including being sexually abused and physically abused by relatives. It notes he slept on the floor, was always hungry and thought incestuous sexual relations were "normal."

    The list also notes multiple prior suicide attempts and diagnosed mental illness.

    “Donald is genuinely remorseful for his crimes,” notes item 70, while item 74 says that by pleading guilty he spared his surviving victim and her brother from “experiencing the trauma of having to testify.”

    (source: firstcoastnews.com)
    "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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