INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man was sentenced to 42 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Carl Davis was previously charged with two counts of murder after the shooting death of his wife, 32-year-old Ashley Bell. On Feb. 7, Davis pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and had his other charges dismissed. He was sentenced on Tuesday.
According to previous reports, police were called to a home in the 3900 block of Boulevard Place just before 3 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2021, on report of a person shot. Police arrived to find Bell suffering from a gunshot wound.
Bell was transported to a hospital in extremely critical condition but ended up dying shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Davis was arrested nearly 10 days later on Jan. 21.
Police said Davis had an active warrant for domestic violence at the time of the deadly shooting. He had reportedly fought with Bell in November 2020 over a cellphone and allegedly pulled a gun on her saying, “you’re gonna make me kill you.”
The death of Ashley Bell was pointed to by groups such as Silent No More — who raise awareness about domestic violence — as an example of the rise in domestic violence incidents during the pandemic.
Davis was sentenced to 30 years for his charge with a 12-year addition due to the habitual offender enhancement.