CANTON — A jury has ended deliberations for the day in the trial of a former police officer who killed his pregnant lover.

Jurors have spent the last day-and-a-half in the jury room. They have been sequestered in a local hotel and will return Thursday for their third day of deliberations.

The jury has more than a week of testimony to consider, including Bobby Cutts Jr.’s emotional testimony that he accidentally killed Jessie Davis with a blow to the throat.

Prosecutors say he choked her, leaving the jury to decide whether her death was a horrible accident or murderous strangulation.

If convicted of the aggravated murder of Davis and her nearly full-term fetus, Cutts could receive a death sentence, life in prison without parole or life with parole eligibility after 20, 25 or 30 years.

The jury also could convict him of murder, which carries a penalty of 15 years to life in prison.

Cutts, 30, acknowledged wrapping Davis’ body in a comforter, putting it in his truck and dumping it in a park. Then he waited nine days to tell authorities her body’s location as thousands searched for her near her northeast Ohio home.

Prosecutors say Cutts strangled Davis, 26, to avoid making child support payments for a fourth child. Besides being the father of Davis’ toddler son and unborn daughter, Cutts also has a child with his ex-wife and a child with a former girlfriend.

Cutts has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder — which includes intent to kill with prior calculation and design — gross abuse of a corpse, aggravated burglary and child endangering.

 

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