Before he announced the fate Tuesday of a man who lured, viciously beat and set out to rape three women in the summer of 2016, a federal judge had just one question about the man’s “almost inhuman conduct.”
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber asked the man, “Is there any explanation whatsoever?”
Keith Dewitt Davis replied simply, “No sir.”
Moments later, Leinenweber handed a 30-year prison sentence to the 31-year-old Davis, calling his crimes “inexplicable” and “almost unspeakable in their brutality.” Two of Davis’ victims had pleaded during their attacks that they were mothers, according to court records.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail Peluso also read a statement from one victim, who said Davis “stole my soul.” She said she thought about getting home to her daughters during her rape in June 2016.
“How do I get home to them safely?” the woman said in her statement. “I can’t leave them. And then it clicked. Let him do it. Do what he wants. Because I can handle it. Just don’t die on them.”
Steven Saltzman, Davis’ defense attorney, acknowledged his client had committed “serious crimes.” But he also said Davis “had a life filled with trauma that pushed him in the wrong direction.”
Before learning his sentence, Davis apologized to the victims and said, “I have nobody to blame but myself.”
Davis pleaded guilty in May 2019 to the attacks on all three women. They took place in Calumet City in June, July and August 2016.
On June 27, 2016, Davis called his first victim to hire her for sex after viewing an ad on Backpage.com. The two arranged to meet, and Davis led her to an empty house in the 500 block of Hirsch Avenue. When she tried to leave after asking Davis for money, he punched her in the right eye.
The woman told Davis to “be cool” and “chill.” She asked him not to hurt her and told him she had children. But Davis told her to “shut the f--- up,” punched her again, told her he had a gun and raped the woman.
Davis later answered another woman’s ad on Craigslist.com, and they met July 10 in the 600 block of Price Avenue. After the woman parked near the rear of a home and rolled down her window, Davis held a handgun to the side of her head, punched her in the face, dragged her into an empty home and ordered her into the basement.
Davis then punched and raped the woman, telling her, “Keep going before I blow your brains out.”
Finally, on Aug. 9, 2016, Davis made arrangements to meet another woman in the 600 block of Price Avenue after viewing her ad on Backpage.com. That woman walked away before entering the home because Davis refused to give her any money. But Davis continued to call and send her messages. A few days later, she agreed to meet Davis in the 600 block of Hirsch Avenue.
They went inside a garage, where Davis put a metal pipe against the woman’s head, said, “B----, don’t move,” and struck the woman several times in the head and chest. The woman begged for her life, said she had children, and ultimately managed to escape.
