photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Aaron Michael Davidson appears at a hearing on Dec. 11, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

A Texas man who pleaded guilty in February to violently attacking two women and killing a cat as part of a deal with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office was sentenced to over four years in prison Monday.

The defendant, Aaron Michael Davidson of Tolar, Texas, was convicted in February of three felonies and a misdemeanor after he entered a guilty plea to dismiss rape and sodomy charges, as the Journal-World reported. Davidson was convicted of one count of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated domestic battery for choking a woman, and one count of criminal threat, all felonies. He was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals.

Judge Amy Hanley sentenced Davidson to 50 months of prison based on the four counts he was convicted of.

As the Journal-World reported, Davidson was accused of torturing two women he was in a romantic relationship with over several months, according to an affidavit in support of his arrest. He forced one woman into a “throuple” with the second woman, which the first woman agreed to out of fear, the affidavit alleged.

The first woman reported multiple incidents of rape and abuse, in which he reportedly attacked her and threatened her life with a rifle and choked her until she was unconscious. The second woman also reported multiple violent incidents involving Davidson.

Although the two woman Davidson pled guilty to torturing were not in attendance, the state read two impact statements from the families. One was read by a crisis counselor on behalf of one of the victim’s mothers. She wrote about how her daughter grew more distant in the course of the relationship with Davidson. She wrote that she found her daughter “emaciated” when she would visit and began to “become afraid for (her daughter’s life).

“He is dangerous,” the letter read.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal read into the record a letter from Katrin Renyer, who identified herself in the letter as Davidson’s victim and former wife. Renyer wrote that Davidson was “not an apex predator, but a carnivorous plant” that “traps and slowly devours” victims “until all that’s left is broken bones.” Renyer shared how she was picking up the pieces of her life and attempting to restart her career after the abuse she suffered from Davidson, noting she has repeated the mantra of “what a privilege it is to be alive” despite the trauma she is dealing with.

Davidson’s defense attorney, Jessica Glendening, noted that Davidson suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after serving in the military and had a minimal prior criminal history which could make him eligible for a treatment program instead of prison.

Davidson also addressed the court, saying he accepted responsibility and he made “a lot of shameful and hurtful mistakes” that were not reflective of his character. He added that he was hoping to go to a treatment program so he would not become another “prison statistic.”

Glendening had filed a “border box” motion that would ask the court to grant probation to the defendant and “impose a nonprison sentence” such as a treatment program, Hanley said she was “not persuaded by the motion.” Hanley noted an assessment of Davidson that recommended he start a yearlong treatment program also found Davidson showed a “high risk” of committing another assault.

Hanley said the acts of violence which Davidson pled guilty to were concerning and she took the victim’s “personal experiences to heart.” Hanley also noted that Davidson had other things to “clean up” — he faces two stalking charges from Renyer in Shawnee County District Court, both felony charges. She said she hoped that the sentence will be enough to move his life in a different direction, but she was not certain of it.

“You pled guilty…but you have not experienced accountability,” Hanley said.