An Ohio man who fatally shot his young sons last year pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated murder Friday as part of a deal with the state to avoid the death penalty, Report informs referring to HuffPost.
Chad Doerman, 33, received three consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole over the deaths of 7-year-old Clayton, 4-year-old Hunter, and 3-year-old Chase Doerman, who were shot at their home in Monroe Township on June 15, 2023, multiple outlets reported.
Doerman also pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault against his now-former wife and stepdaughter, who’d attempted to stop the killings.
According to a bill of particulars filed in Clermont County and obtained by local stations WCPO and WLWT, the incident began when Doerman returned home from work and started walking around with a Bible in a manner that was scaring the children.
His then wife, the mother of the three boys, told him that she did not like what he was doing, and she and their sons then took a nap with him, according to the court document.
After some time, Doerman got out of bed to grab a rifle from a gun safe and shot Hunter twice, Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said in court Friday.
The boys’ mother yelled for the other two to run while she tried to render aid, and Doerman’s stepdaughter came into the room after hearing the shot, according to the bill of particulars. The stepdaughter ran outside with Clayton, but Doerman was right behind them, shooting in their direction.
Clayton was shot and fell to the ground, the court document said. It was at this point that Doerman fired an additional shot into the boy’s head at close range.
His stepdaughter went back inside the home to grab Chase and run, but Doerman caught up with them. Doerman then demanded that she put Chase down and attempted to fire a shot at him, but the gun did not go off, according to the court document.
Chase ran outside where his mom was now located as she continued to render aid to Hunter. Doerman, however, caught up to the child and shot him at close range.
During this time, Doerman’s stepdaughter left the residence to get help and flagged down a passerby while on her way to a nearby fire station.
The boys’ mother struggled with Doerman as he attempted to take Hunter away from her and she was shot in the thumb, the court document said. He then shot Hunter in the head. Doerman was later arrested outside his home by Clermont County sheriff’s deputies.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that prosecutors agreed to stop pursuing the death penalty against Doerman in exchange for a guilty plea. Tekulve, who had been adamant about seeking the death penalty, told reporters on Friday that his decision to offer the deal came after he recognized the “trauma” experienced by the boys’ mother and her daughter.
“The trauma that these two have experienced that day and continue to experience, my job as I saw it this week is to relieve them of that additional agony. And that is why we are here today,” Tekulve said.
A victim impact statement from the boys’ mother and her daughter was read in court Friday, Fox affiliate WXIX reported.
The mother said that she was in agreement with how Doerman’s case was resolved, adding that it brought a sense of closure for her and her daughter. She said she wants the public to remember her sons for who they were in life, before last year’s incident.
“Remember them as the boys who love to have fun and were inseparable from one another,” the mother said in court. “Their lives are not only about what happened to them - they are so much more than that.”