Recordpub.com - Second suspect arrested in Davis death Canton woman, Cutts to appear in court today; body ID'd as woman

By Joe Milicia

Associated Press

CANTON -- A former high-school classmate of the man suspected of murdering a pregnant woman was arrested Sunday on an obstruction of justice charge, the FBI said.

Myisha Ferrell, 29, was arrested in the death of 26-year-old Jessie Davis the day after sheriff's deputies and FBI agents with a search warrant broke down the door of her apartment, agent Scott Wilson said. She was not at home during the search.

The Stark County Sheriff's Department said she is charged with obstructing deputies and agents but provided no other details, saying any information made public would hurt their case. Ferrell was to be arraigned today, Wilson said. The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice is five years in prison.

The Summit County medical examiner on Sunday identified a body found in Cuyahoga Valley National Park as that of Davis. The dead, nearly full-term fetus was still in her womb.

Davis, of Lake Township near Canton, was reported missing after her mother found Davis' 2-year-old son, Blake, home alone, with bedroom furniture toppled and bleach spilled on the floor. Blake gave investigators their first clues, saying: "Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in rug."

Thousands of volunteers searched for Davis for several days, while investigators questioned Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, a police officer who is Davis' boyfriend and has an estranged wife. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Davis' relatives have said they believed Cutts, of North Canton, was the father of both Blake and the fetus Davis was carrying.

Justin Lindstrom, 27, an upstairs neighbor of Ferrell's, said officers spent two hours searching the woman's apartment before leaving with several full, brown paper bags and bottles of bleach from the basement.

Lindstrom said he had not seen the downstairs tenant on Saturday or Sunday and rarely spoke to the woman, except to ask her to turn her music down. He said he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary around the time Davis disappeared. Lindstrom said Ferrell lives with her 11-year-old daughter.

Lindstrom said the two of them never hit it off.

"She's not exactly your ideal neighbor. She and I haven't gotten along since day one," said Lindstrom, who moved into the building in January. He said she had parties every night.

"We're talking carloads at a time -- four and five carloads -- and until 3 or 4 in the morning," Lindstrom said.

Wilson would not describe what the deputies seized or say how Ferrell might have been involved.

There was no immediate response to messages seeking comment Sunday from Davis' family members and Cutts' lawyer. Cutts' pastor, the Rev. C.A. Richmond, declined to comment as he entered a service in Canton on Sunday.

Davis' body was found in an area known as Top O' the World because of its elevation. The area contains a dirt road, a small dirt parking area and a couple of benches overlooking a grassy field.

The body was found in that field, said Roger Riggins, an investigator for the medical examiner's office.

Just down the road, someone posted a sign that said, "God bless you Jessie and Chloe, forever in our hearts." People had placed flowers and red and yellow ribbons just below a sign identifying the park.