By Felicia A. Petro
Allied News Staff Writer
A Butler County judge sentenced a Harrisville man with 20 to 40 years in state prison on Wednesday in the death of his former girlfriend’s baby.
“You refer to this as an accident,” said Judge Timothy McCune to Jarred Burton Knight, who was dressed in black and white striped prison clothes.
“Perhaps this helps you and your family to deal with it, but in a court of law, it’s the murder of a child,” McCune said.
Tyler Davis died June 24, 2007, from head injuries sustained that June 23 when Knight babysat the 14-month-old alone at the Marion Township home of his then-girlfriend, Jessica Davis, 23.
Knight was arrested two days later for murder. The case did not go to trial until last month.
Prosecutors said Knight smashed Tyler’s head into the Davis’ bathroom wall out of jealousy. A month before, a paternity test revealed that Knight was not the baby’s father.
During the emotional case, Knight has claimed that he wasn’t surprised about the test results and still wanted to rear Tyler as his own. He claimed responsibility for the child’s death, but maintains it was an accident.
He’s stated that Tyler threw a tantrum and slipped from his grip when he was preparing the baby for a bath, which caused the child to hit his head on the tub and then the floor.
After three days of testimony and two hours of deliberating on a fourth day, a jury found Knight guilty of third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment. Charges of first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter were thrown out by the jury.
“I gave a lot of thought about this case, not just during work but outside of work,” McCune said on Wednesday.
The judge said he weighed Knight’s claim that Tyler’s death was an accident, as well as the broad support the defendant received from family and friends. Many testified at Knight’s trial that he was a peaceful person. Twenty individuals submitted letters on the defense’s behalf for McCune to read prior to sentencing.
However, it came down to one piece of evidence for the judge from Allegheny County pathologist Dr. Todd Luckasevic, who ruled Tyler’s death blunt force trauma to the head.
“What kept coming back was, Dr. Luckasevic said that the impact was like being hit with a baseball bat,” McCune said. “From there, it made everything easy.”
The pathologist also stated that such an impact is not consistent with a fall.
Michael DeRiso, Knight’s attorney from Pittsburgh, asked McCune to consider evidence not presented at the trial. “This is, at best, a shaken baby case,” he said.
After the sentencing DeRiso added that the evidence wasn’t presented because it couldn’t be connected to a single person.
The courtroom was standing room only on Wednesday, with family and friends filling both sides of the seating areas, and deputy sheriffs lining the aisles.
Victims’ impact statements were given by Tyler’s aunts Jodi, Julie and Jill Davis, Jessica Davis’ sisters, who wept before McCune, asking for the worst punishment for Knight.
“My life has been hell; my family’s life has been hell,” Jodi said.
“Hell is crying every day, going to the graveyard and blaming myself for my nephew’s death; that I didn’t stop it.”
Julie said Tyler’s mother has become addicted to heroin. She formerly used drugs, but when she found out she was pregnant, she became clean, she noted.
“Ty saved Jessica. He made her the best mother I know. He made her love life,” Jill said. “Life was like a fairy tale.”
Since losing him, “she will do everything to support her habit,” Julie added, including stealing from their family.
“We lost Tyler, now Jessica. She doesn’t want to live,” said her father, Glenn Davis, in a statement read by a victims’ advocate.
Jessica will disappear for days on her drug binges, he said.
Her dad and his wife, Mary, will drive looking for her. “We don’t know where to go but we drive to New Castle, Kittanning, Pittsburgh,” he said. “Then we get a call from Jessica if she can come home and it starts all over again.”
Mr. Davis lost his job as a superintendent of a large construction company, because he could no longer function after Tyler’s death, he said. His side construction business has also failed. Between both, the family garnered $350,000 to $400,000 annually.
Julie said her dad will go into daily “breakdowns” that are taxing on the family. Her mother, Mary Davis, “has to be the strong, calloused one to see what Dad goes through every day,” she added.
The grandma stated that the family died with Tyler.
“We can’t see the light at the end of the hole. We cry when we see 2-year-olds. We walk past childrens’ departments and cry,” Mary Davis said.
“I don’t go to church anymore. I can’t concentrate on God because I’m so angry at him. ... God may turn the other cheek. I can’t.”
Amy Gilson, a cousin of the Davises, also talked about the horror of Tyler’s demise on the family.
She was on a two-day bus trip to New York City with her daughter and grandma when she got the bad news. She hasn’t gone on a bus trip since, because of “having that trapped feeling and not being able to help,” she noted, crying.
Bill Knight, the father of Jarred Knight, also gave a heartfelt statement before McCune. He looked at the Davis family and apologized for their loss of Tyler.
“We can share it, because he was our grandson, too,” he said; to which Glenn Davis responded with a grunt.
He referred to Jarred as being like a father to Tyler and like a husband to Jessica. “It was so much fun to be around them. They seemed made for each other,” Mr. Knight said. “I was proud of Jarred and his family.”
Mr. Knight has been on a leave of absence from work over the tragedy.
“I know what it’s like to grieve,” he said. However, “There are no words to explain how Jarred loved Tyler and Jessica.
“There are no words to make me believe Jarred would hurt Tyler or Jessica.”
Jarred stood before McCune. He apologized to the Davises and his family “for all the agony I caused,” he said, sobbing.
“I hope one day (the Davises) can see I didn’t mean this,” he said. “I know God has a plan for Jessica’s life and her family.”
Jarred asked McCune for an early release from jail to continue with his life, adding that he finished his GED in prison, and leads Bible studies with inmates.
McCune gave the maximum time to Knight for the third-degree murder charge, which has the intent of malice but not premeditation. The judge gave no penalty for the remaining charges.
DeRiso said he would be talking to the Knight family about appealing the case.
The Davis family is trying to raise funds to build a memorial playground in Tyler’s name at Harrisville Park.
Tyler’s mom was not present at the sentencing. However, her sisters read a statement by Jessica.
“Ty was Mommy’s boy from birth, ‘attached to the hip,’ as everyone would say. He loved the park,” she said, which is why the family wants to build the memorial playground.
Jessica wrote that she began using drugs again a month after burying her baby.
“I stopped caring for everything and everyone. I don’t let anyone close to me for fear of losing them, too,” she said.
“All I want to do is die and be with my baby again. ... He was an angel on earth, now he’s an angel in heaven.
“I’m sure he’s still adorable.”
Purchase a copy of this story at Allied News, 201A Erie St., Grove City. Published June 20, 2009.
