Man convicted in brutal murder of Wichita mom at Fairmount Park is sentenced
The Wichita man convicted of capital murder in the 2014 beating, rape and fire death of a mother walking through Fairmount Park will spend the rest of his natural life in prison with no chance of getting out, a Sedgwick County judge has ruled.
Cornell McNeal, who was convicted at his July trial of capital murder in the Nov. 14, 2014, attack that killed Letitia Davis, received the expected sentence of life in prison with no parole eligibility at his sentencing hearing Thursday. Though sentencing hearings are usually a time for emotion-filled victim statements, apologies, pleas for leniency and attorneys’ final arguments about a defendant’s fate, McNeal’s concluded without fanfare.
Members of Davis’ family packed the courtroom, but none spoke to the judge, who also offered no commentary about the crime or sentence dolled out.
Prosecutor Shannon Wilson told the court life in prison without parole was the only appropriate sentence “for what this man did” but otherwise focused on resolving other routine legal matters at hand, including dismissing a 2015 misdemeanor battery case in light of McNeal’s lifelong prison sentence.
She also asked the court to dismiss the jury’s guilty verdict for raping Davis because rape is already an element of capital murder. District Judge Jeffrey Goering agreed.
In a prepared statement sent later by email though a spokesman, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the life sentence “was the culmination of the hard work and dedication of first responders, investigators, witnesses — both professional and civilian — the jury and the court.” He did not attend Thursday’s hearing in person.
“We are pleased the family of Ms. Davis is finally able to put this chapter behind them,” Bennett wrote.
Neither of McNeal’s lawyers commented on the convictions or sentence in court but said McNeal would appeal.
McNeal, 34, dressed in a green jail jumpsuit and restraints, turned down his chance to speak during the hearing. He shook hands with his attorneys, flashed peace signs to his family and mouthed a goodbye before deputies escorted him away.
Davis’ father, Jeffrey Donnelly, said after the July trial that his family “got the result we were hoping for” and were relieved McNeal “is off the streets and won’t harm anybody else.”
At the time, he said his daughter was “finally at peace.”
Only one woman, a supporter of McNeal’s, sobbed audibly when the judge announced the punishment.
The sentence caps nearly eight years of court proceedings in what was once a death-penalty case and one of the county’s longest to get to trial in recent years.
Jurors convicted McNeal of capital murder and rape after a weeklong trial in July where prosecutors presented overwhelming evidence pointing to his guilt, including his semen on her body. Prosecutors had argued McNeal randomly attacked Davis, a 36-year-old newly engaged mother of four, after she left a gathering at a friend’s house, knocked her down and slammed her face repeatedly into the ground before raping her and setting her on fire with flammable liquid and a borrowed cigarette lighter.
The defense, meanwhile, sought to discredit the state’s case at trial, arguing police failed to adequately investigate other suspect leads and that the DNA proved only that McNeal had sex with Davis, not rape or murder.
Neighbors who heard Davis’ pained screams found her naked and bloodied in a ring of flames near the park’s tennis courts. She suffered burns to about 70% of her body, severe cuts to her face and a detached ear lobe, and died from burn complications after eight days in the hospital.
Wichita police arrested McNeal several days after the attack.
