Current:Home > FinanceMan gets life sentence for killing his 3 young sons at their Ohio home -Wealth Legacy Solutions
Man gets life sentence for killing his 3 young sons at their Ohio home
View
Date:2025-04-13 05:52:22
BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the shooting deaths of his three young sons at their Ohio home last year.
A Clermont County judge sentenced Chad Doerman, 33, on Friday to three consecutive life terms after he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder charges. He was also sentenced to another 16 years on two felonious assault charges for injuring his former wife and his stepdaughter.
Prosecutor Mark Tekulve had originally vowed to seek the death penalty in the June 15, 2023, murders of Clayton Doerman, 7, Hunter Doerman, 4, and Chase Doerman, 3, in Monroe Township, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Columbus.
But on Friday he cited the trauma that the surviving family members “experienced that day and continue to experience on a daily basis.”
“My job, as I saw it this week, was to relieve them of that additional agony,” he told reporters Friday.
Prosecutors earlier said that Doerman, who was taken into custody after he was found sitting on a stoop at the home, admitted to having planned the killings and chased down one of the boys in a field after the child tried to flee. Defense attorneys had argued that he was struggling with severe mental illness.
Laura Doerman, the children’s mother and the ex-wife of the defendant, wept as a prosecutor read a statement in court from her saying her life had been “ripped away from me and destroyed.”
“I would do anything to push them on the swing, cover them up one more time and hear their little ways of saying, ‘I love you,’” she said. "... I have anger, frustration and so much sadness. Grief will never go away because it is all the love that is left with no place to go.”
In another statement issued through prosecutors after the sentencing, she said that she was in “full agreement” with the resolution of the case.
“No punishment will ever bring my boys back,” she wrote. “Having a guarantee that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars is what is best for my family.”
The prosecutor said he plans to reveal more details about the case at a news conference Monday. Laura Doerman thanked prosecutors and first responders and asked for privacy, saying she and the family “grieve every day” for the boys. She also asked, however, that people remember the children as they were before the events of that day.
“Remember them as the three little boys who loved fishing, go-carting, and swimming,” she said. “Remember them as the little boys who were always at the baseball fields or running around outside. Remember them as the boys who love to have fun and were inseparable from one another.”
veryGood! (97489)
Related
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- 4 injured in shooting at Virginia State University, and police have multiple suspects
- Wembley Stadium tells fans without Taylor Swift tickets not to come as security tightens
- 10 college football freshmen ready to make an instant impact this season
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Snickers maker Mars to buy Kellanova, company known for Pringles, Eggos, in $36B deal
- 1 person injured in shooting at North Carolina mall, police say
- Horoscopes Today, August 13, 2024
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Ex-NFL player gets prison time in death of 5-year-old girl in Las Vegas
Ranking
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- Fire sparks Georgia nuclear plant alert, but officials say no safety threat as reactors unaffected
- The paint is dry on Banksy’s animal-themed street art that appeared across London over 9 days
- Lala Kent’s Affordable Spa Day Finds: Pamper Yourself With Pregnancy-Approved Picks for At-Home Luxury
- Bodycam footage shows high
- English town of Southport mourns 9-year-old stabbing victim and calls for an end to unrest
- 2nd woman sentenced in straw purchase of gun used to kill Illinois officer and wound another
- Mega Millions winning numbers for August 13 drawing: Jackpot climbs to $435 million
Recommendation
Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
10 dogs are found dead at a home in Mississippi, and a man has been arrested
Alabama Coal Regulators Said They Didn’t Know Who’d Purchased a Mine Linked to a Fatal Home Explosion. It’s a Familiar Face
Texas church demolished after mass shooting. How should congregations process tragedy?
Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
Turnout in Wisconsin election tops 26%, highest in 60 years for fall primary in presidential year
Police fatally shoot teen in Alaska’s largest city, the 4th such killing since mid-May
Take 72% Off T3 Hair Tools, 50% Off Sleep Number, an Extra 60% Off J.Crew Sale Styles & Today’s Top Deals