DANVILLE — Ronald Davis of Gary was sentenced to 40 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the 2010 robbery of a retired Clayton couple.
Davis and his accomplice, Shannon Campbell, drove to the victims’ residence, approached Dale Denny, 68, while he was doing yard work, and asked for directions to St. Louis, Mo. Davis then put a gun to Denny’s throat and demanded money. Denny retrieved $18 from his pocket and Davis then forced him into his house.
The robbers eventually made off with just more than $100 in cash.
“This is a nightmare scenario for prosecutors,” Hendricks County Deputy Prosecutor Loren P. Delp Sr. said in a press release. “Elderly citizens in broad daylight, singled out because of their vulnerability — all over $100. These types of cases deserve lengthy sentences and I think that’s why the judge sentenced Mr. Davis to 40 years at the Indiana Department of Correction.”
According to testimony, Davis and Campbell bound Denny’s hands behind his back and forced him into a cellar. His girlfriend, Eileen Rushton, 65, was in the shower at the time. When she exited, Campbell pointed a gun at her head and forced her to the cellar, knocking her to the floor where she hit her head and broke her neck.
Both Denny and Rushton testified that they “thought they were going to the cellar to die.”
A lengthy investigation by Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department Detectives Aaron Payne and Chuck Morefield resulted in DNA evidence, fingerprints, and cell phone records that led to the apprehension of the suspects.
“I really can’t say enough about the quality of the investigation by Aaron and Chuck and the Sheriff’s Department,” Delp said. “These types of cases, when you have no eyewitnesses that are able to identify the suspects, it really becomes about the detectives and the quality of the investigation and they did a great job. The victims thought so too.”
The investigation revealed that the motive for the robbery was that Campbell owed drug money to Davis that he was unable to repay. Months before the robbery, Campbell had worked for a moving company hired by the victims to move furniture out of storage to the residence. The victims tipped Campbell $100 for his work.
The detectives were able to trace the handcuff box that had a sticker on it, indicating where it had been sold, as well as prints left at the scene.
Hendricks Superior Court V Judge Stephanie LeMay Luken sentenced Davis to 40-year sentences on both the robbery and burglary charges, with the time to be served concurrently.
Campbell went to trial in November of 2011 and received the same sentence.
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