LIFE SENTENCE NOT DEATH FOR BOBBY CUTTS JR

Last Edited: Wednesday, 27 Feb 2008, 2:48 PM EST
Created: Wednesday, 27 Feb 2008, 7:16 AM EST

CANTON, Ohio (AP) -- A jury has spared a former Canton police officer from a possible death sentence for killing his pregnant lover and their baby and instead has recommended life in prison with parole. Bobby Cutts Jr. would be eligible for parole after 30 years under the jurors' recommendation made Tuesday. Stark County Common Pleas Judge Charles Brown Jr. planned to decide on a sentence later Tuesday after each side has an opportunity to make statements. The 30-year-old Cutts had sobbed on the witness stand when he claimed the death of 26-year-old Jessie Davis from an elbow to the throat last June was an accident during an argument. He said he dumped her body in a park in a panic. He returned to the witness stand after his conviction to ask jurors to spare his life.

Bobby Cutts Jr. was found not guilty of aggravated murder in the death of Jessie Davis, but guilty of aggravated murder for the death of her unborn child.