A man sentenced to 240 years in jail for fatally shooting his wife and a bystander at a southern Indiana petrol station last year was sentenced on Wednesday.
Cherok Ameer Douglass, of New Albany, was found guilty of two charges of murder and one count each of attempted murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury by a jury in August.
Prosecutors claim Douglass murdered Brandee Kay Douglass, 38, and Lorin M. Yelle, 43, in April 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. Police pursued him to a nearby restaurant, where he kidnapped the owner, Winnie Wen. She got hurt after falling from his vehicle.
Investigators did not believe Yelle had any relationship to Cherok or Brandee Douglass. They claimed Yelle was a petrol station customer who was shot while walking to his vehicle.
Douglass received the maximum punishment from Floyd Superior Court Judge Carrie Stiller, who described his offences as “the worst of the worst.”
Douglass apologised to the victims’ families but stated that he intended to challenge the jury’s decision.
According to court filings, Douglass was high on heroin and methamphetamine on the day of his arrest.
“I still don’t remember what happened that night,” Douglass said during the sentencing hearing.
Defence attorneys requested a 131-year minimum sentence.
