Prosecutor: Family of women killed by pickup that 'fell out of the sky' wanted closure
Four years ago, Samantha Davis was found guilty of causing a horrific and improbable vehicle crash that killed two women and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Then in 2021, the 1st District Court of Appeals threw out Davis' convictions on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and ordered a new trial, saying she had been deprived of effective assistance of counsel during her trial. Davis ultimately was released on bond to await a second trial.
That second trial never happened because Davis chose to plead guilty earlier this month to the charges. On Monday, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz imposed a prison term that had been agreed upon as part of the plea, sentencing Davis to five years and four months.
Davis, who received credit for the 43 months she already has been incarcerated, will have to serve another 21 months in prison. The 32-year-old mother of two was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs. She did not make a statement.
As part of the sentence, Ghiz ordered a lifetime driving suspension.
Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Seth Tieger said his office offered the plea deal because the family of the two women killed decided they didn't want to go through a second trial.
"They really wanted a finality to it," Tieger told Ghiz.
One of Davis' attorneys, Kara Blackney, said Davis pleaded guilty because she also wanted closure for the family of the women who were killed, 41-year-old Sabrina Miller and her mother, 67-year-old Sandra Tell.
The crash happened in 2016 on an overpass leading from northbound Interstate 71 to Interstate 275 west. The ramp went over I-71.
According to testimony, Davis, then 25, was driving a 1995 Dodge Ram with an underinflated tire that had been repaired with Fix-a-Flat. She was on her way to work as a server at a Sharonville restaurant.
At least one witness said Davis was speeding and lost control, although prosecutors also said she was driving while under the influence of drugs. Davis denied speeding and being under the influence. She said she heard a noise, then couldn’t keep the steering wheel straight, as if the pickup “had a mind of its own.”
She was ejected before the pickup drove directly into the overpass's concrete barrier and went over it.
An eyewitness said that Davis' pickup “just fell out of the sky.”
The pickup flipped over and landed on top of a car that was on I-71 below, killing Miller and Tell.
During Davis' 2019 trial, her attorneys at the time allowed a police officer who is a crash reconstructionist to give expert opinions, despite not having provided a written report to the defense before trial.
In throwing out Davis' convictions, the appellate court said without that officer’s testimony, it was likely the jury would have looked at the case differently.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Samantha Davis sentenced for 2016 fatal crash
