Woman gets 20 years for killing mentally disabled woman who wet bed

Carolyn Davis killed her mentally challenged victim with a kick to the abdomen — a death that got her 20 years in prison on a count of voluntary manslaughter.

Davis, 52, of 468 Bowen Blvd., awaits transfer to a state prison after her Monday guilty plea. Admitting to the voluntary manslaughter of 37-year-old Carolyn Lunsford, who was in her charge, Davis was given the maximum sentence by Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters.

"It's a tragic incident, but the manslaughter was appropriate due to the lack of the intent to kill," said Assistant District Attorney Sadhana Dailey. "The sentence was appropriate."

Columbus police were called to St. Francis Hospital around 11 p.m. Jan. 25, 2007 — the night Lunsford died. They found both fresh and old injuries on her legs, arms and torso.

"There was an argument between the two," Dailey said. "The defendant basically lost it and kicked the victim in the abdomen."

Testimony at Davis' Columbus Recorder's Court hearing revealed she admitted to kicking Lunsford four times the day she died after becoming upset with the mentally challenged woman for wetting her bed.

Initially charged with murder, Recorder's Court Judge Michael Joyner reduced the charge to manslaughter. Davis, however, was indicted on charges of murder and aggravated assault. Those charges merged and were reduced to voluntary manslaughter at her Monday guilty plea hearing.

This story was originally published August 20, 2008 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Woman gets 20 years for killing mentally disabled woman who wet bed."