Lorain man gets 40 years to life for murder of pizza deliveryman

Benjamin Davis pleaded guilty and was sentenced Nov. 15 to 40 years to life for the 2014 murder of 26-year-old Robert Caudill.

Davis, 32, of Lorain, was facing a possible death sentence in the crime, but instead reached an agreement with prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of robbery, two counts of theft, two counts of having weapons under disability and a single count of tampering with evidence.

According to police, Caudill was robbed and killed Dec. 1, 2014, while delivering a pizza to the Lake Motel, 3917 W. Erie Ave. in Lorain.

Davis called police after the crimes and gave a false statement about a robbery at the motel.

He was arrested while driving Caudill’s car near the border of Lorain and Amherst, Lorain police Capt. Roger Watkins said at the time.

Caudill was a father of two boys who are now 8 years old and 10 years old. He was an employee at Happy’s Pizza on Oberlin in Lorain.

According to the transcript of the Nov. 15 hearing, Mary C. Caudill, the victim’s mother, told Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Betleski that Davis took her life the day he killed her son.

Mary Caudill said she taught her children to work for what they want and to respect those who work for a living.

She said if Davis had asked her son for money, he would have given it to him.

“I just didn’t understand why he would have took my son’s life,” Mary Caudill said. “I still haven’t to this day. I could never forgive him. He took my only life.”

She continued saying she was closer to Robert Caudill than her other children because he was bipolar and had ADHD. She said she told him not to let that stop him.

“I just want him to stay in prison where he can never hurt a mother like me ever,” Mary Caudill said about Davis. “That hurt never goes away. I’ll have it the rest of my life.”

Robert Caudill’s sister, Mary Jane Caudill, also addressed the court, according to the transcript.

She emphasized her brother was a good dad and a good brother who would have helped Davis if he’d asked.

“(I) just want (Davis) to know that we have to go look at a grave every day, at a rock every day and talk to it to talk to my brother,” Mary Jane Caudill said. “And now, his family can go and see him in jail because my mom made a decision of not taking it all the way. So, I just want him to be thankful for my mom.”

Erika Arbaugh, mother of Robert Caudill’s children, also addressed the court sharing the loss her two sons must live with.

“I have to look at them every day, knowing that he won’t be there for their birthdays, for Christmas, for their weddings, when they graduate,” Arbaugh said. “I only had so much time with him, and there’s only so many stories I can tell them about their dad.

“We didn’t even get a chance to tell him goodbye, to tell him we love him. He just walked out for work and that was it. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for taking that away from us.”

Robert Caudill’s family contacted The Morning Journal after the hearing to ask everyone to donate to their local Toys for Tots in memory of him.

Becky McMillan, Caudill’s sister, added that no matter how long Davis spends in prison, it will not fix the hole in their family.

“It doesn’t matter if my mother has all five of her other children in her home with her day and night, she’ll never have the light to her family back,” McMillan said. “She’ll never live her life.”