2023 Doerman killings

On June 15, 2023, in Monroe Township, Ohio, Clayton, Hunter, and Chase Doerman (ages seven, four and three respectively) were shot and killed at their home. The 34-year-old wife of the suspect was injured in the attack, and her daughter (the suspect's stepdaughter) was held at gunpoint but escaped unharmed.

Police arrived and arrested 32-year-old Chad Doerman, the father of the three victims, and charged him with murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping. Doerman pleaded not guilty on June 23. Prosecution is seeking the death penalty.

Events
According to the bill of particulars, on June 15, 2023, Chad Doerman returned home early from work and requested that his three sons and wife join him in the primary bedroom for a nap. Sometime after they laid down on the bed, Doerman opened his gun safe and retrieved a Marlin Model 70HC .22 rifle.

Doerman then shot Hunter twice, killing him. The wife began trying to help Hunter while telling the other two sons to run. At this point, the stepdaughter, who was watching television, was entering the bedroom and witnessed the first shots. She ran after Clayton, telling him to keep running. Doerman chased him into a nearby field, shot him from behind, and then point-blank in the head. The suspect carried Clayton's body back to the house's yard.

The stepdaughter then reentered the house, picked up Chase, and escaped to the road. Doerman followed her and aimed the rifle at her, telling her to put Chase down. He tried to fire but was out of ammunition. Chase ran to his mother who was now outside in the yard trying to render aid to Clayton. The stepdaughter got away and informed a passerby what her stepfather was doing before continuing to run towards the nearby Monroe Township Fire Department.

Doerman then went inside and carried Hunter's body outside, laying him in the yard. He then tried to wrestle Chase from his wife, reportedly biting her in the process. When she managed to grab the rifle, Doerman fired, shooting his wife in the thumb. She dropped Chase, who Doerman then shot in the head.

Doerman then laid Chase's body down next to his brothers and sat on the side stoop of the house, watching his wife try to resuscitate the boys, until police arrived at 4:25 p.m.

Upon their arrival, they instructed him to show his hands and walk towards them, but Doerman disobeyed and remained sitting. Subsequently, officers approached him and took him into custody at 4:27 p.m.

Victims
Three children were killed in the incident: Clayton, Hunter and Chase. It was determined that Chase was shot once while the other two were shot four times. The children's mother was wounded with a gunshot wound to the hand, and transported to the hospital for treatment.

Aftermath
Shortly after the shooting a crisis team were stationed at the elementary school that the step-daughter and one of the sons, who had been home schooled at the time of the shooting, had also attended. There had been another student who was killed along with his parents in a murder suicide in February 2023. A GoFundMe was created to help cover the children's funeral costs.

Legal proceedings
Doerman reportedly admitted in an interview he had been planning since October 2022 to shoot his sons.

The bill of particulars filed for the case claims that the stepdaughter suffered psychological harm due to the incident.

Ultimately, Doerman was charged with nine counts of aggravated murder, one for each gunshot that hit the deceased. In addition, he received eight kidnapping charges and four felonious assault charges.

Doerman's first court appearance was on June 16. He pleaded not guilty, for reasons of insanity, at his arraignment on June 23. Prosecutor Mark Tekulve is seeking the death penalty. Doerman's trial was set to begin in July 2024, but was delayed, and new date hasn't been set.

Accused
Chad Doerman had various other criminal offenses prior to the shootings with court records showing some traffic citations and a domestic violence charge. The case was ultimately dropped after the alleged victim, Doerman's father, failed to appear as a prosecution witness in the case. A neighbor who saw the aftermath of the shooting, indicated they had witnessed Doerman treating his family poorly and that he was angry every day.