Autopsy report: Fairmount Park attack victim died from burn complications

A Wichita woman who was raped, beaten and set on fire at Fairmount Park in November died of complications of the burns and also suffered facial fractures, an autopsy report says.

Letitia Davis, 36, had burns on about 70 percent of her body, said a report on the autopsy, conducted at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center. The report was filed in court Tuesday.

Cornell McNeal has been charged with capital murder in the attack on Davis, which occurred just south of the main campus of Wichita State University, near 17th and Hillside. Wichita police said Davis was walking through the park when she encountered a man who attacked her around 11 p.m. Nov. 14.

A woman living across the street heard someone screaming for help, and her boyfriend found Davis lying nude, bloody and on fire in a ring of flaming grass near the park’s tennis court.

The crime shocked the city.

Davis had second- and third-degree burns on her head, torso and extremities, the autopsy report said. It also lists a number of blunt-force injuries on her head, including fractures of facial bones and cuts across her head.

Deputy Coroner-Medical Examiner Scott Kipper found that the cause of death was “Complications of thermal injuries. Other significant conditions included blunt force injuries of the head.” He determined that her death was a homicide.

After the attack, Davis remained in a hospital as her condition declined, the autopsy report said. She died on Nov. 22, eight days after the attack.

A sexual-assault evidence collection kit conducted on Davis after the attack provided evidence that led to McNeal, and DNA taken from Davis’ body matched a swab from McNeal. That swab was taken from McNeal after he was implicated in a 2010 sexual assault case, according to an affidavit The Eagle obtained in December. The affidavit, from investigators, was used to justify the arrest of McNeal and the charges against him.

McNeal, 27, remains in jail on a bond of more than $1.25 million. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 5, but it could be postponed, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office.

On Jan. 26, prosecutors charged McNeal with misdemeanor battery over a Dec. 24 incident, court records show. That charge resulted from McNeal allegedly fighting with another inmate, said sheriff’s Lt. Lin Dehning.

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Autopsy report: Fairmount Park attack victim died from burn complications."