Davis
A local man originally charged with murder has plead guilty to two lesser felony charges in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
Joshua R. Davis, 45, admitted to Judge Kelly Benjamin on Monday that he was responsible for the Sept. 16, 2022 death of Coy Wayne Thompson, 61, at a campsite near the intersection of Old Indianapolis and Tellman Camp roads.
In a plea agreement filed by public defender Michael DeArmitt and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kimberly Sexton-Yeager, the two parties agreed to drop the murder charge.
In return, Davis agreed to plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injuries as a Level 4 felony. The defendant also plead guilty to reckless homicide as a Level 5 felony.
Benjamin will decide whether the sentence for leaving the scene (two to 12 years) and the time he‘ll serve for reckless homicide (one to six years) will be served concurrently or consecutively, DeArmitt said. Besides prison time, each count also carries a fine of up to $10,000.
Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 5.
In a probable cause affidavit, investigators stated Thompson and his companion, Robert Lehman, had allowed Davis and his wife to temporarily stay at a campsite near a wood line off Old Indianapolis Road.
But the invitation was revoked during the early evening of Sept. 15, 2022 after the Davis couple engaged in excessive bickering, investigators stated. When asked by Thompson to leave, the couple departed in their Nissan 2004 Quest minivan, according to the court document.
After first denying that he returned to the camp site, Davis eventually told investigators he did come back to retrieve his dog. In the affidavit, Davis claimed that once he and his pet were in the minivan, Thompson was approaching the driver’s side door and threatening him with a knife.
The defendant said he revved up his engine to scare Thompson, but the vehicle lunged forward and knocked the victim to the ground, the court document stated.
Davis also claimed he mistakenly put the van in reverse, felt a bump, and left the area, the affidavit stated. On Monday, he admitted in court he never got out to check on Thompson and fled without reporting the incident to authorities.
An autopsy determined that Thompson died of multiple blunt force trauma, as well as a large severed vein that resulted in the victim bleeding to death, according to the affidavit.
While being questioned by the judge Monday, Davis said he was an alcoholic and had taken illegal drugs at times before his arrest.
When the sentencing hearing is held, DeArmitt said he will ask whether his client is eligible to enter the “Recovery Enables a Life For Men” (REALM) program. As of the end of last year, REALM had helped 87 men take part in residential treatment programs designed to help them recover from addiction.
But if Davis is sent to prison, he would likely have to seek admission into a treatment program within the Indiana Department of Correction.
