A man received a life sentence without parole for the shooting deaths of his three young sons at their Ohio residence last year.
On Friday, a Clermont County judge sentenced Chad Doerman, 33, to three consecutive life terms after he admitted to aggravated murder charges. Additionally, he received 16 more years for injuring his former wife and stepdaughter with two felonious assault charges.
Chad Doerman, lined up his 3 boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, outside their home and executed them with a rifle.
When one of the boys tried to flee into a nearby field, Doerman hunted him down and dragged him back to the house in order to kill him. pic.twitter.com/wjUjkkF1uw
— Joni Job (@jj_talking) August 4, 2024
Prosecutor Mark Tekulve initially aimed for the death penalty for the June 15, 2023 murders of Clayton Doerman, 7, Hunter Doerman, 4, and Chase Doerman, 3, in Monroe Township, about 75 miles west of Columbus.
However, he acknowledged the ongoing trauma for the surviving family members on Friday. Tekulve expressed his intent to spare them further suffering.
“My job, as I saw it this week, was to relieve them of that additional agony,” he informed reporters.
Prosecutors indicated that Doerman, apprehended while sitting on a stoop at the home, confessed to planning the killings. He reportedly chased one of the boys into a field when the child attempted to escape. Defence attorneys claimed Doerman struggled with severe mental illness.
In court, the children’s mother, Laura Doerman, and the ex-wife of the defendant, cried as a prosecutor read her statement, describing her life as “ripped away 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 through prosecutors after the sentencing, she expressed full agreement with the case’s resolution.
“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 announced plans to disclose more details about the case at a news conference on Monday. Laura Doerman thanked prosecutors and first responders, requesting privacy while she and her family grieve daily for the boys. She urged everyone to remember the children as they were before the tragedy.
“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.”