Guilty Verdict for Hit and Run Driver, Jorida Davidson

WASHINGTON - A Chevy Chase woman accused of fleeing a fatal accident in the District last October has been found guilty of negligent homicide. Jorida Davidson, an Albanian national, who claimed post traumatic stress disorder as part of her defense, was immediately jailed.

Davidson was convicted of killing 24-year-old Keila Ryan and will be sentenced in September. Davidson had no immediate reaction to the verdict.

Her attoey requested she be allowed to remain free until sentencing but Judge Lynn Leibowitz refused, citing numerous other traffic infractions that took place before last falls accident, some of them alcohol related.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge but found Davidson guilty of leaving the scene of an accident as well as driving under the influence.

Jorida Davidson claimed she blacked out after striking Keila Ryan with her SUV on Connecticut Avenue just south of Dupont Circle.

Through her attoey Davidson said she couldn't remember a thing immediately after the collision and all the way home to Chevy Chase where she was eventually arrested.
But it wasn't the alcohol. Davidson said she blacked out due to post traumatic stress disorder suffered during her years growing up in war to Albania.

A claim the jury rejected.

"We invested an incredible amount of time, we've been doing this since Friday, on every single item the prosecution and the defense presented to us" said Michele Dearbo, the Jury Foreman. "We treated everything, again, so seriously and as I said each and every juror contributed to the discussion and we discussed that (meaning the post traumatic stress) and every other issue."

Keila Ryan was out celebrating her 24th birthday with friends when she was hit by Davidson’s SUV. A man on a bicycle got her tag number and called police.

Ryan’s family is relieved.

"We're glad it’s over," said Rocky Ryan, Keila's dad, "And we thank god for a conviction because the defense was quite adept at creating the spin doctor kind of defense and hocus pocus and that’s his job I guess."

Keila Ryan had just been promoted to manager where she worked and had her eye on law school when she was killed.
"We love yah darling," said Ryan, "We thank God that we had yah for the short 24 years and you’re missed."

In an interview outside the courthouse, Keila Ryan's mother Frances added,
"I am grateful and honored to have had that time with her to be her mother because she was wonderful; she was an angel in our family."

Jorida Davidson was also convicted of leaving the scene of an accident as well as DUI. She faces up to five years and nine months when she is sentenced in September.

The jury took the better part of two full days to reach its verdict. The jury foreman would not go into specifics on how they dealt with the post traumatic stress claim. Davidson told her psychiatrist she had seen atrocities when she was younger and had never been treated for it.

Keila Ryan was trying to do the right thing the night she was killed. She had a designated driver but was killed stepping out of the car.