Donald Davidson was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for a murder and the sexual assault of a child
According to court documents Donald Davidson, who is a convicted sex offender, would murder a thirty five year old woman before kidnapping and sexually assaulting her young daughter
Davidson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Davidson would take his own life in 2022
Donald Davidson Photos
Donald Davidson FAQ
When Did Donald Davidson Die
Donald Davidson took his own life in 2022
Donald Davidson Case
Donald Davidson, who confessed to murdering 35-year-old Roseann Welsh and kidnapping and raping her 10-year-old daughter, has died in jail, a statement by the Florida Department of Corrections says.
He was being held at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida.
Davidson entered a guilty plea in both crimes and was sentenced to death in 2019. A date for his execution had not been set at the time of his death.
A law enforcement source has told First Coast News the death was by suicide. The Department of Correction has not released an official cause of death.
Under Florida law, the district Medical Examiner is required to determine the cause of death for any person who dies in a prison or penal institution, a statement by DOC said.
The incident took place in 2014 in Clay County.
Davidson previously waived his right to a jury trial for the guilt and penalty phases and entered a guilty plea to the attempted rape and subsequent murder of Welsh, and the kidnapping and rape of her daughter.
Davidson, a registered sex offender at the time, had only been out of prison 72 days when the attack occurred.
Given the brutality of the crime, and the fact that Davidson was a registered sex offender at the time of the 2014 attack, Lester said “the appropriate sentence is death.”
At the time, prosecutor Melissa Nelson said the crime “shocked the conscience” of the community of Clay County, and that death was the only acceptable consequence.
