Joshua Davis of Woonsocket enters a guilty plea in Superior Court in Providence yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

PROVIDENCE — Joshua Davis pleaded guilty yesterday in Superior Court to kidnapping, raping and killing his 8-year-old Woonsocket neighbor, Savannah Smith, in May 2006.

Davis, his head shaved, apologized to Savannah’s family, who sat on the courtroom’s oak benches, about 15 feet behind him. “I’m sorry for what happened,” he said, facing Superior Court Judge Gilbert V. Indeglia. John J. Hardiman, one of the public defenders representing Davis, told Indeglia that Davis did not want to put Savannah’s family through a trial.

Davis, 22, faces life in prison without parole. He is scheduled for sentencing June 5.

Some of Savannah’s family members were crying when Assistant Attorney General Bethany Macktaz read the details of her death and what the state was prepared to prove had the case gone to trial.

On May 7, 2006, Savannah was enjoying a beautiful sunny Sunday, Macktaz said. During the course of that day, she helped Davis wash his red convertible. She and her sister asked to go for a ride in his car but her father, David Smith, told them no. The girls went to the Globe Street playground, not far from Savannah’s home on Coe Street. About a half hour later, one of Savannah’s younger sisters and her cousin returned home and told David Smith that Savannah had left the park with Davis, in his car. They had seen her as she waved goodbye.

The was the last time the family saw her. The police found her body the following day, in the woods off Parkview Boulevard in Cranston.

Macktaz said that the state has evidence that Davis carried Savannah into the woods, which was strewn with trash and glass, because she was not wearing shoes. The bottoms of her feet were pristine, Macktaz said. In the woods, he sexually molested Savannah, Macktaz said.

The medical examiner would have testified to the horrific injury and trauma Savannah suffered from Davis’ attack while still alive, Macktaz said. The police found a spent condom with Davis’ semen, and her blood, in the area, Macktaz said. She said Davis strangled Savannah and hit her on the head. He collected her bloody clothes and threw them over a fence. The police found Savannah’s naked body by a tree, Macktaz said.

Savannah’s parents, David and Lisa Smith, and other family members left the court quickly after Davis’ plea, declining to make any comments. Captain Walter Warot, of the Woonsocket Police Department, said the department would defer comments to Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch. Former Police Chief Michael L.A. Houle, who was chief at the time of the murder, came to court yesterday to hear the plea. “I’m glad the day is here. It is the worst case I have ever seen. The loss of any child, to a parent ... as a police officer it’s one I will never forget,” he said. “I had a high expectation that the child would be found alive. My heart goes out to the parents.”

The Woonsocket Police have defended not using the Amber Alert system, which publicizes over the broadcast media and on highway signs when a child had been kidnapped and is believed to be in grave danger. A Department of Justice study has found that 74 percent of children murdered by their kidnappers are killed within the first three hours of their abduction. The attorney general backed the Woonsocket Police Department.

Since life without parole became an option in Rhode Island, 28 people have received it, according to Michael J. Healey, Lynch’s spokesman. All 28 went to trial. Davis’ case is the first time that the sentence could be imposed as a result of a guilty plea, Healey said.

Davis has been held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions since his arrest. Macktaz and Assistant Attorney General J. Patrick Youngs filed a notice with the court soon after Davis’ arrest of the state’s intention to pursue a life sentence without a chance for parole, the maximum penalty under Rhode Island law, if he were convicted of first-degree murder.

During his guilty plea, Davis acknowledged that the state would have proven that he molested Savannah Smith before murdering her and, in addition, that the state would have proven that the death was in a manner consistent with aggravated battery or torture. This acknowledgement now allows the court the option of imposing a sentence of life without parole, Healey said.

Lynch said, in a statement, “Although today’s plea spares Savannah’s family and loved ones the torment of a long trial, it does not in any way mitigate the monstrous crimes that the defendant pled guilty to this morning in open court.” Lynch said there was no plea bargain and that his office would advocate for the maximum sentence.

“I continue to offer my prayers and deepest sympathies to Savannah’s mom and dad, family and friends for the indescribable loss they have suffered.” Lynch said.

tpina@projo.com