NAMPA, Idaho — Levi Isaac Davis, 27, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his mother, Karly Cantrell, in her Middleton home in October 2022. Cantrell was the West Valley Humane Society executive director.
Davis was sentenced to life imprisonment by Honorable Brent L. Whiting after pleading guilty to a felony charge of second-degree murder in September 2023, according to a statement released Friday from the Canyon County Prosecutor's Office.
After serving a minimum of 40 years in prison, Davis will be eligible for parole and will remain under supervision for the rest of his life. Davis also ordered to have no contact with the victim's family for 100 years, pay a $5,000 civil penalty and submit a DNA sample to remain in Idaho's database.
"This was one of the most horrible acts of violence that I have seen in all my years in law enforcement," said Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue. "The sheer brutality shown by the defendant against his own mother and his complete lack of remorse are truly hard to fathom."
On Oct. 10, 2022, Davis stabbed Cantrell several times in the neck and abdomen before leaving the scene. He was arrested at a halfway house in Nampa later that day after investigators found blood-stained clothing laying in plain sight inside of his vehicle.
"The impact of such a crime can't be understated. Karly's loss is devastating to this community. But even more devastating is how it has impacted her family that she leaves behind for the rest of their lives," said Deputy Prosecutor Stephanie Morse at the sentencing hearing. "The Defendant brutally stabbed and murdered his mother. An act unconscionable."
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