District Judge George F. Scott imposed the sentence on the 41-year-old Fort Riley bowling center manager in Geary County District Court.
A month ago, Davidson's wife, Sabine Davidson, 27, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted her of unintentional second-degree murder in the April 24 death of 11-year-old Chris Wilson, a fifth-grader at Milford Grade School. Sabine, who was present Wednesday, also had received an additional 12 months of imprisonment on a separate misdemeanor count of endangering the life of a child under 18.
Following the sentencing, Jeffrey Davidson's attorney insisted that her client "does not believe he has committed a crime," said public defender Linda Barnes-Pointer, of Topeka.
"First off, both of the Davidsons cannot accept that their dogs did this," Barnes-Pointer said. "(The couple) lived with the dogs, they had them around, this is contrary to what they knew about the dogs. The Davidsons believe their dogs came (on the scene) after the fact, after another group of dogs had killed this little boy."
On March 12, prosecutors dropped an unintentional second-degree murder charge against Jeffrey Davidson in exchange for a no contest plea on a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.
County Attorney Christopher Biggs said he didn't oppose Scott's order to place Jeffrey Davidson on probation, a penalty that also includes 100 hours of community service.
"Based on Mr. Davidson's involvement in admissible evidence against him," Biggs said, "what occurred today would have been a likely result had we gone to trial."
Prior to his sentencing, Jeffrey Davidson read aloud a brief statement in which he said Chris Wilson's death "was tragic and an act in which only God in his infinite wisdom can hope to see meaning and reason."
Biggs told reporters he was surprised by Jeffrey Davidson's decision to read the handwritten note, which also included the Davidsons' hope that "God grants some measure of peace" to the boy's parents.
"We have not had up to this point in time any acknowledgement of responsibility, or any acknowledgement or sorrow, on the part of either defendant," Biggs said.
While an appeal is pending, Sabine Davidson remains free on a $50,000 appearance bond, according to attorney Ronald Hodgson.
Following the hearing, Jeffrey Davidson talked with reporters while standing beside the family's parked minivan. Inside the vehicle, 3-year-old daughter Ashley occasionally honked the horn while perched in the driver's seat. The family, which also includes two other daughters, ages 8 and 1, resides in Alta Vista.
"We'd love to go back to the day before (April 24) and make everybody happy," Davidson said. "If we could 'time warp' back, we'd like to have killed the dogs, regardless of what really happened. Whether our dogs did or did not (do the killing) is still a point of conjecture."
(Topeka Capital-Journal - April 2, 1998)
Earlier: