Indiana man pleads guilty to killing ex-girlfriend and her grandmother outside factory
04/20/2023 12:31 pm PDT
FRANKFORT, Ind. (TCD) -- A man has avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to the killings of his 21-year-old ex-girlfriend and her 62-year-old grandmother outside a factory in 2021.
The Clinton County Prosecutor’s Office announced April 18 that Gary Ferrell pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, saying Ferrell "raised the defense of intellectual disability" to avoid the death penalty.
According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, on the afternoon of Aug. 18, 2021, Ferrell arrived at the NHK factory on Indiana 28 and parked his vehicle next to Pamela Sledd’s black Chevy. Ferrell reportedly ordered his ex-girlfriend Promise Mays, Sledd’s granddaughter, to exit Sledd’s car. When she got out, he tried to force her into his trunk. Prosecutors reportedly obtained security footage from the factory, which showed the attempted abduction and killing.
After pulling Mays toward his trunk, Ferrell reportedly brandished a semiautomatic handgun and threatened her. According to the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Sledd got out of her car and attempted to speak with Ferrell, but he aimed the firearm at her. As Sledd attempted to flee, Ferrell shot her three times.
Mays reportedly refused to comply with Ferrell’s demand to enter his trunk and instead hid behind his car. Prosecutors claim that Ferrell proceeded to shoot Mays, then ran over her while leaving the parking lot.
Following the incident, police reportedly caught up with Ferrell on the state highway and pursued him through Frankfort. The chase came to a halt when he crashed his car in a construction zone.
Court records show that on Aug. 24, 2021, prosecutors filed a request for the death penalty prior to Ferrell’s plea deal. His sentencing is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 30 in Superior Court.
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