Hillsboro woman sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter

A Hillsboro woman was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with an overdose death in May 2023.

As previously reported, Elizabeth (Lisa) A. Davis, 46, was indicted in February on one count of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony; trafficking in heroin, a fifth-degree felony; and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony.

Davis pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge Tuesday, March 26 in Highland County Common Pleas Court. The indictment accused Davis of causing an individual’s death “as a proximate result of Davis committing or attempting to commit a felony, to wit: corrupting another with drugs and trafficking in heroin” on or about May 15, 2023. 

After Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss accepted Davis’ guilty plea, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins acknowledged the “expeditious manner” in which the case was handled in Davis pleading guilty.

“At the same time, the actions of the defendant did take the life of someone, and she [the victim] was a mom and a grandmother,” Collins said.

The victim’s daughter also addressed the court, crying as she said that Davis knew the victim for years. 

“I hope that haunts you every day, but I doubt it,” the daughter said. “You sold drugs that killed someone, basically playing God with my mom’s life, and you had the nerve to dictate what [sentence] you would serve.

“Lisa, I will never forgive you for what you’ve done.”

Coss sentenced Davis to the five-year prison term jointly recommended by the state and defense. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, Davis could serve up to seven and a half years. She had 39 days of jail time credit.

As previously reported, Davis was one of 28 individuals charged federally in a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of Ohio in October 2019. According to federal court records, Davis pleaded guilty to a narcotics conspiracy charge in July 2020. 

In April 2023 in the Southern District of Ohio, Judge Douglas R. Cole sentenced Davis to 120 months imprisonment with credit for time served, according to court records. 

Coss asked about the status of that case, and both Collins and Davis’ attorney, J.D. Wagoner, advised that it's their understanding Davis had never been given a date to report to prison.

“Unbelievable,” Coss said. “It’s unbelievable that someone has a 10-year sentence and is not in prison, because if she had been in prison, this would not have happened.” 

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