Oklahoma man sentenced to death in toddler death case
The Associated Press and The Oklahoman - February 16, 2018 1:14 pm
Dustin Melvin Davison sits in court on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Jurors will decide whether to give a Bethany man the death penalty for fatally beating his ex-girlfriend’s 2-year-old. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma man has been sentenced to death for the 2015 beating death of his ex-girlfriend’s son.
The Oklahoman reports that 25-year-old Dustin Melvin Davison was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the fatal beating of the toddler. He was sentenced Thursday.
The child died on May 18, 2015, after suffering a skull fracture, brain bleeding, a broken jawbone and nearly 50 bruises below the neck.
Defense attorney Melanie Freeman-Johnson had argued that the death penalty was “inappropriate” for the case, saying Davison wasn’t in the right state of mind.
Jurors chose the sentence on grounds that the child’s death was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, and that Davison would be a continuing threat to society.
