Woman becomes guardian angel to murder victim's son

By Fred Clasen-Kelly
McClatchy Newspapers

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Over the past 18 months, Jen Snyder has established a college fund, collected furniture — and even helped get a home — for the family of 4-year-old Blake Davis.

Snyder didn't even know Blake until she saw him on TV in June 2007. The Ohio boy's missing mother had just been found dead. The prime suspect was his father.

"I was sobbing watching the press conference," said Snyder, 36, of Charlotte. "I thought, 'This little boy has no mom or dad.' "

Snyder has spent more than a year collecting money and donations to help Blake and his family in Akron, Ohio. A trust fund she established, Blake's Bright Tomorrow, raises money for the boy's college education. She is also trying to find someone willing to give the family a vehicle to replace its car, which often breaks down.

Her effort convinced a mortgage company to donate a foreclosed house to the family. Businesses from Charlotte, N.C., gave $32,000 to pay the gift tax and help furnish the house. Celebrities such as singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, NBA star Lebron James and Carolina Panthers players Steve Smith and Jake Delhomme contributed autographed items last year that helped her collect $25,000 during a fund-raiser.

"It has totally changed my life," said Snyder, executive director of Hood Hargett Breakfast Club in Charlotte, a business networking group. "I can't imagine what life would be like without it."

Blake's story made national headlines. His mother, Jessie Davis, 26, was nine months pregnant when she went missing from her Ohio home in June of 2007. Patty Porter, Blake's maternal grandmother, found him alone in the duplex two days later.

Davis' dead body was discovered nine days later about 25 miles away in a national park.

The boy's father, former police officer Bobby Cutts Jr., was convicted of murder and aggravated murder of his and Davis' unborn child and sentenced to life in prison.

Porter, 62, is raising Blake, who she says is personable and smart. He can count to 200 and spell names of all his family members.

Blake also asks questions about what happened to his parents. "We never lie to him," Porter said. "He knows dad's in a long timeout. He's progressed to dad's in jail."

Snyder grew up in Uniontown, Ohio, a small blue-collar town not far from where Blake lives. Her parents still live there. Blake's story gripped the town. Thousands signed up to search for Davis' body. "My dad got choked up on the phone telling how all these people were searching," said Snyder, who has lived in Charlotte for 11 years. "These were people who didn't have a lot of money taking time off their jobs." Snyder wanted to do her part, so she started organizing a silent auction in Ohio. It was held in July 2007.

She persuaded business associates to give jewelry, a television and other merchandise. Home builders and other volunteers agreed to renovate the family's new house, furnish it and buy play equipment for the back yard.

Her boss, Chuck Hood, allowed her to work solely on the fund-raiser for three weeks.

"She became so passionate about it," Hood said. "She was not going to be content until she had done it 110 percent." On the day of the fund-raiser, Snyder and other volunteers surprised Blake's family with the three-bedroom, split-level house. Six family members previously had been living in a two-bedroom apartment.

When Porter saw the laundry room with a washer and dryer, she turned to Snyder and hugged her. Porter had never owned her own house and did not have a washer and dryer. "She said, 'My daughter would have loved you so much,' " Snyder said. "It was an amazing moment between us."

Snyder keeps a card that Blake wrote for her. He traced his hand and wrote, "I love you."

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