Jason N. Davis said he should have called police when he suspected his aunt’s boyfriend assaulted her, a charge she has denied. Instead, Davis and his cousin brutally beat the man leaving him in a hospital fighting for his life.
It was a decision that will cost him his freedom.
Judge Randall Basinger on Monday sentenced Davis, 35, of Lima, to five years in prison during a hearing in Putnam County Common Pleas Court. Davis pleaded guilty in October to one count of felonious assault.
“It got out of hand. I don’t believe they went over there with the intent to cause that kind of injury,” said William Kluge, Davis’ attorney. “He has never denied any culpability in this matter. He’s always been pretty forthright about it.”
The charge stemmed from the Aug. 8 beating of John J. Dally, 44, of Pandora, at his home. The beating happened after Davis’ aunt, Mary Vanatta, appeared at a family gathering with a black eye. Davis and Vanatta’s son, Larry Vanatta, told police they believed Dally beat Mary Vanatta causing the black eye, a charge she denied in statements to police.
Earlier this month, Larry Vanatta was sentenced to four years in prison.
“I’d just like to say how sorry and how remorseful I am to John, his mother, his family, my mom and my kids especially. I just want to say, I just wish we could have took the proper approach to this instead of going about the way it did,” Davis said. “I wish we had just called the Pandora police and had them investigate my aunt’s black eye. This was her third one in less than six months.”
Basinger said Davis has a history of violent assaultive behavior. Davis’ record includes at least two chases involving the police, one of which reached speeds in excess of 100 mph, Basinger said.
Basinger said Vanatta’s hands were swollen and Davis’ foot was swollen to the point he couldn’t put on his shoe after the beating.
“You are fortunate the victim survived,” Basinger said.
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Copyright (c) 2010, The Lima News, Ohio
By Bob Blake – The Lima News (MCT)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
To see more of The Lima News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.limanews.com.
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Tags: aunt, davis, family, freedom, kids, larry-vanatta, life, pandora, police, vanatta, victim, william-kluge