Deyanna Davis faces up to 25 years in jail, as the alleged driver of a vehicle which drove over a police line during a tense George Floyd demonstration on Bailey Avenue June 1 of last year, severely injuring a state trooper.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn on Wednesday said Trooper Ronald Ensminger was so severely injured, he hasn’t returned to work. Davis faces two violent felony assault charges and has pleaded not guilty.
"I added a second count," Flynnn said. "I added a count about the depraved indifference count or the recklessly causing conduct that shows a depraved indifference to human life. I added that on."
Flynn said Davis has her supporters, but the evidence shows deliberate action.
"Miss Davis has, obviously, supporters out there who think that she did nothing wrong and she panicked," Flynn said, "and one of the passengers is shooting a gun out of the car and there’s chaos at the scene and she just freaked out and went forward, okay? I can tell you that the evidence does not support that at all."
Flynn said an Erie County Sheriff’s Department helicopter camera shows other drivers leaving the scene while Davis drove at the police line and hit Ensminger and drove away.
"She plowed right into that barricade," he said, "and after she plowed into that barricade and then realized, 'Oh my gosh, I plowed into a barricade of officers or people,' did she stop? Did she stop her vehicle and say, ' Oh, my God, what did I just do?' No, she kept going. She kept going up Bailey Avenue."
A passenger in the car, Semaj Pigram, faces criminal possession of a weapon charge for an illegal gun in the vehicle. Davis remains free on $200,000 bail.
