MORGANTOWN — The man accused of shooting his stepdaughter in April of last year pleaded guilty to second degree murder Thursday in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
Donald Davis, 74, of Morgantown, appeared in front of Judge Cindy Scott and entered an Alford plea in the murder of 51-year-old Tamatha “Tammy” Pillo.
An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if the case is brought to trial.
Prosecuting attorney Perri DeChristopher read aloud the facts of the case to the court, which Judge Scott found to have a factual basis for a guilty plea.
According to the case facts read by DeChristopher, the shooting occurred in Davis’ Babbling Brook Road home in Morgantown during a domestic dispute between Davis and Pillo. Pillo was reportedly not happy with the care her mother was receiving from Davis. Pillo later died at Ruby Memorial Hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest.
“The defendant’s guilty plea to the crime for which he was indicted, second degree murder, is the first step in Tammy’s family and friends obtaining closure to this tragic event,” DeChristopher said.
Davis will be sentenced at a later date and faces ten to forty years in prison.
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