In the early hours of April 10, 2021, a tragic event shattered the peace of County Road 218 at Ola Padgett Road. Cassidy Mongeon, a vibrant young woman returning home after a hard day’s work, was killed after Jonathan Davis, a man with an extensive criminal record, struck her vehicle head-on while driving an unregistered vehicle, uninsured, on the wrong side of the roadway; Before causing a fatal head-on collision, Davis had attached a license plate from his Ford Ranger to his newly acquired GMC Yukon, which he had not registered or insured. Jonathan Davis told Florida Highway Patrol officers that his wife was calling and telling him to come home. According to official reports, Davis said he traveled westbound on County Road 218 but should have traveled eastbound to get home. 

Cassidy Mongeon had finished her shift at Tabula Rasa Brewing in Jacksonville. The journey home was an approximately 37-mile drive, a journey she never completed. Conversely, Jonathan Davis, who worked for a local concrete company, was heading in the opposite direction – westbound. Alarmingly, he confessed to having consumed half a Suboxone pill earlier that day, which, given his lengthy criminal record, indicates an opioid addiction. According to the police report, Jonathan Davis crossed the center line into the eastbound lane of CR-218, resulting in a head-on collision. 

Davis declined to take responsibility for the accident for more than two years. He sat in jail for months, knowing that any time he spent in county jail would likely reduce his eventual stay in prison. Cassidy Mongeon’s family served Davis with a civil suit in April of 2022, almost a year after the accident. Nevertheless, Davis continued refusing to take responsibility for the accident until March 2023. In his response to a civil lawsuit, Davis implied the accident was Cassidy’s fault. He stuck with this bold, outrageous, and offensive lie until the last court date before his jury trial. On that day, Davis pled guilty to the accident. 

The court records of Jonathan Davis before this fatal traffic collision are unnerving. Over the past 25 years, he has been arrested 14 times, charged with 18 crimes, and convicted eight times. His offenses range from assault with a deadly weapon and battery to cruelty toward children and lewd and lascivious battery on a child under 16. His domestic abuse of his wife and inappropriate and illegal contact with children makes him a dangerous threat to any community where he resides. 

This tragic crash marks yet another dire chapter in Davis’s criminal career. When he killed Cassidy, official records indicate Davis may have been driving again on a suspended license. If confirmed, it was the sixth time Davis was driving on a suspended license. His driving history is filled with similar offenses demonstrating a total disregard for the law and the safety of others. 

The repercussions of Davis’s actions were dire. Cassidy, severely injured, was pinned in her vehicle. She was comforted by good Samaritans driving the same road within moments of the crash. They remained by Cassidy’s side, praying and comforting her until EMS arrived. Tragically, Cassidy succumbed to a traumatic brain injury at Orange Park Medical Center. Her death was officially declared at 1:34 pm on April 10, 2021. Records show that though he had his cell phone, Davis never called 911 as he fled the collision scene. He ran away on foot, escaping into a densely wooded nearby area. 

In a late but seemingly calculated move, Davis surrendered to the Florida Highway Patrol several hours after the incident upon seeing a news article featuring his vehicle at the crash scene. Davis called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office dispatch to turn himself in. Clay County Sheriff’s Office then notified Florida Highway Patrol. Davis confessed to driving the GMC Yukon that killed Cassidy Mongeon to FHP investigators. He was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death and attaching a tag not assigned to his vehicle. Though Davis eventually pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident-causing death, no one knows if Davis was intoxicated before the accident because he didn’t turn himself in for 14 hours.  

Davis’s behavior shows a progressive tendency towards more dangerous actions, culminating in the untimely death of Cassidy Mongeon. His continuous disregard for the law and the safety of others, as demonstrated by his latest crime, strongly suggests an urgent need for his long-term separation from society. 

In their victim impact statement, the Mongeon family requested the maximum sentence for a hit and run involving death in Florida, which is thirty years. Specifically, they are seeking a punishment of 23 years in prison and seven years of probation, including alcohol and drug testing. Davis is scheduled to be sentenced in the next few weeks. 

The stark truth remains – Cassidy Mongeon’s tragic death could have been avoided. The judicial system is now responsible for guaranteeing that a man with an extensive history of reckless and dangerous conduct is confined for as long as legally possible to ensure his behavior does not harm another family.