TWINSBURG, Ohio — The family of 38-year-old Michael Davis has had to endure heartbreak and frustration for more than three years after Davis was shot and killed by 68-year-old Mark Sanders on St. Patrick's Day in 2020.
Davis's father-in-law, David Levey, told News 5 he's appalled the Summit County judicial system has still not given his family the justice it deserves some 40 months after Davis was killed. Levey believes the case has been filled with delays and errors that allowed Sanders to be found not guilty by reason of insanity on the murder charges that were filed against him.
“The Summit County justice system needs to be held accountable; your job is to protect the public, to enforce the laws,” Levey said. “There was never a doubt from day one that this happened; why did you allow this to drag on? Why did you allow all these things that happened throughout the case to happen.”
Levey said his family and other agencies were never notified when Sanders was released from jail on a $100,000 bond and allowed to stay at his daughter's home wearing an ankle monitor, setting up what he believes was a potentially dangerous situation.
“The prosecutor’s office was never notified that he was released, the city that he was going to reside in was never notified he was going to be released, nobody knew," Levey said. “The person that murdered my son-in-law was released without anybody being notified; the witness in the case lived right next door to the house he was released to.”
However, attorney Noah Munyer, who represents Sanders in this case, defended the Summit County judicial system in the following statement:
This case is a tragedy on all fronts. Our client, Mark Sanders has been found NGRI (not guilty by reason of insanity) by two of the leading experts in Ohio.
The case has taken a longer time than usual to come to resolution due to the covid 19 pandemic and the retirement of the original judge on the case. Additionally, the global pandemic impacted the availability of experts and the completion of necessary medical and psychological evaluations.
The victim's family has expressed anger towards the court, the prosecutors and the defense attorneys regarding frustration with the timing of the case and expert opinion's.
That anger is completely misplaced, the multiple judges and prosecutors that have handled this case have been professional, ethical, diligent and appropriate at all times in this matter. Any suggestion to the contrary would be a willful misrepresentation of reality.
Mr. Sanders has been cooperative and forthright at every phase of this case and will continue to do so. He has complied with any and all bond conditions the duration of the case.
News 5 also reached out to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office for this story, but it said it could not comment on an ongoing case. It said an important hearing in the case is set for July 10, and it understands the deep emotions being felt by both families involved.
Still, Levey and his family said they believe the case against Sanders was mishandled and said they're hoping the prosecutor's office and the judge involved will make a ruling that will keep Sanders locked up for the rest of his life.
“We didn’t get the justice that we wanted for Mikey," Levey said. “Sanders needs to be kept away from the public because, according to the doctors, he wasn’t in control of himself that night; therefore, he needs to be put away where he can not harm anybody else.”
News 5 will continue to follow through on this developing story.
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