Sheriff: Sex predator killed woman, abducted and raped child, left in family's van

Deputies: 13-year-old son found 37-year-old mother dead in Middleburg home

MIDDLEBURG, Fla. – A 34-year-old sexual predator on controlled release from prison cut off his GPS monitor late Monday afternoon, and within hours had stabbed to death a 37-year-old woman, abducted and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl, then fled in a stolen minivan, according to Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler.

Beseler said Roseanne Welsh (pictured below) was found dead by her son about 6 p.m. Monday inside their Middleburg home. The 13-year-old boy called 911.

"For the little boy to just walk in and find his mom like that, I couldn't imagine," said neighbor Brooke Hygema. "It's sad."

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, deputies learned a 10-year-old child was kidnapped. 

Within the hour the missing child approached, having been dropped off near the home. She identified her attacker as a friend of her father.

Roseanne Welsh

"We could have had two homicides, easily on our hands," Beseler said. "The 10-year-old victim handled things very well and is probably responsible for her own safe return."

About the same time deputies were dispatched to a report of a dead woman at the Mayflower Street home, Florida Department of Corrections notified the Sheriff's Office that Donald Davidson Jr. had apparently removed his tracking device.

After a manhunt that involved the Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Service, Davidson was arrested during a traffic stop on Blanding Bouelvard in Orange Park at 2:30 a.m. and booked on charges of kidnapping, capital sexual battery and auto theft. He was ordered held without bond.

Prosecutors are expected to add murder to the charges against Davidson when he appears in court on Wednesday.

The police had been called to the home where Welsh was found dead about 200 times in the past dozen years. Most of those calls were for medical reasons, because a person in the home had a medical condition. But there were also calls for suicide threats, assault and a fire or explosion. The call Monday was originally listed as a suicide and stolen vehicle, but quickly became a homicide and kidnapping investigation.

Beseler said this was a crime of opportunity. He said Davidson knew that the mother would be home alone and knew when the girl would be coming home from school so he could take her. Beseler said the girl came home as the murder was happening.

"It is a horrible situation. Our hearts go out to that family," Beseler said. "They're doing as well as can be expected right now."

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the tragedy is a warning for any adult who has a relationship with a known sexual predator. The relationship between Davidson and the victim's husband is said to have gone back years, but recently, the father would not allow Davidson around his children, and he warned the children about Davidson's background.

Smith said there are warning signs for parents, such as an adult appearing to take an interest in spending a lot of time alone with your child.

"If they start asking a lot of questions about a child's sexual activity or a teenager's sexual activity, or if they like to hug on them a lot, even if the affection's not wanted by the child, that's a sign to look for," Smith said.

Davidson was released from prison in September after serving time for a 2004 lewd and lascivious act on a child under 12 years old and aggravated battery on a pregnant woman in 2010. He was legally living nearby and a long-time friend of the slain woman's husband. Beseler said until he cut off the GPS monitor at 5:30 p.m. Monday, he had complied with all the terms of his release.

Davidson has several prior convictions, including aggravated battery and sexual battery.

Smith said he wonders if new and harsher sexual predator laws came too late to stop this tragedy. Davidson was out and living close to the family at the time of the crime because he was on supervised release from jail, not civil commitment, which is part of a new, tougher law signed earlier this year by the Governor.

"Last month News4Jax covered this law extensively about civil commitment, those are sexual predators who have been convicted of a sexual crime who would go before a review board of professionals, detectives and victims' advocates to see if they qualify for civil commitment which means that they would stay in controlled facility even after they served their prison term," Smith said.

Beseler said he wondered the same thing because Davidson had followed the requirements of the law until Monday.

"There is always second-guessing and armchair quarterbacking about whether or not somebody had been in prison would a crime have occurred, and if we had a crystal ball we could look into it and tell who's going to do things, and we could prevent everything," Beseler said. "But unfortunately he had complied with everything at the law currently requires for sexual predators."


About the Authors:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.