CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio — “Where there used to be so much laughter, happiness, noise of rowdy little boys, there is now silence and emptiness.”
Those words, spoken through a victim advocate in a Clermont County courtroom, came from Laura Doerman. The 34-year-old mother watched her ex-husband receive three consecutive life sentences for murdering their three sons.
Chad Doerman, 33, pleaded guilty on August 2, 2024, to three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault. He killed Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, at their Monroe Township home on June 15, 2023. He also shot Laura and threatened her 14-year-old daughter, Alexis, during the attack.
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A Normal Thursday Turned Deadly
The morning of June 15 started like any other. Chad Doerman left for work but came home around 9:30 a.m., telling his mother over the phone he was having “confusing feelings.” She suggested he visit the Little Clinic inside a Kroger store.
Security footage shows him walking through the store in the same clothes he would later be arrested in. He stood at the clinic desk for several minutes. No one came. He left.
Back home, he told Laura, “This will be my last good meal.” She thought he was contemplating suicide. Minutes later, he called his father and said something that made no sense at the time: “Clayton is going to be the hardest one.”
Around 4 p.m., Chad asked his family to lie down in the master bedroom for a nap. After they settled in, he opened his gun safe and pulled out a Marlin Model 70HC .22 rifle.
“Terror filled the room,” Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said in court.
The Attack
Chad shot Hunter twice. Laura tried calling 911. He grabbed her phone and said, “It’s too late.”
Alexis heard the gunshots from another room. She ran to the bedroom and saw Hunter bleeding. Laura screamed at the other children to run while she tried to help Hunter.
Clayton made it out the back door. Chad chased him into a nearby field, shot him once, then stood over his 7-year-old son and fired two more shots into his head. He carried Clayton’s body back to the yard.
Alexis grabbed Chase and ran toward the street, heading for the fire department. Chad caught them. Ring camera footage captured what happened next.
“Please don’t shoot me,” Alexis begged.
Chad ordered her to put Chase down. The magazine was empty. While Chad reloaded, Chase ran back to his mother.
Laura grabbed the rifle barrel with her thumb, trying to stop what was coming. Chad fired. The bullet went through her thumb. She dropped the gun. Chad shot Chase once in the head.
He laid all three bodies in the yard. Laura tried CPR. Chad sat on the front step and waited.
The 911 Calls
Multiple calls flooded the Clermont County dispatch center at 4:15 p.m.
One caller reported a woman screaming that her babies had been shot. Another described a teenage girl running down the street, saying her stepfather was killing everyone. The girl refused to get in the caller’s car, insisting she couldn’t leave her family.
Deputies arrived at 4:25 p.m. They found Chad sitting calmly, rifle beside him. Officers ordered him to walk toward them. He refused.
Body camera footage shows deputies taking him to the ground. One asked, “What are you doing, man?”
Chad replied, “I ain’t gonna hurt ya. I ain’t gonna hurt nobody.”
Behind them, Laura’s screams filled the air: “You took my life from me. My life.”
All three boys died at the scene. Laura was treated for her gunshot wound and released.
The Investigation and Legal Process
In a taped interview, Chad admitted he had planned the killings since October 2022, eight months before he carried them out. He was initially charged with 21 counts, including nine counts of aggravated murder.
At his arraignment on June 16, 2023, prosecutors asked for $20 million bond, the highest in county history. The court granted it.
“This is by far the most sickening, horrifying crime I have seen,” Tekulve said at the time. “I can only imagine the terror these little boys felt and experienced.”
Chad pleaded not guilty. In March 2024, his attorneys changed the plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
Two psychiatric experts examined him. Both noted he may have suffered from a mood disorder. But the court-appointed expert, Dr. Emily Davis, concluded he knew what he was doing was wrong.
Dr. Davis pointed to his careful execution of the murders and statements he made showing he understood the nature and consequences of his actions. Before June 15, 2023, Chad had never been diagnosed, treated, or prescribed medication for any mental health condition.
Judge Richard Ferenc ruled in early 2024 that Chad’s Miranda rights had been violated during his interrogation. His confession would not be admissible at trial.
On August 2, 2024, Chad accepted a plea deal. In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors dropped the death penalty specifications. Judge Ferenc sentenced him to three life terms without parole, plus 16 years for the assaults.
What Laura and Alexis Said
Prosecutors read both victim statements in court. Chad appeared to tear up as he listened.
Alexis spoke directly to the man she had considered her father: “Chad, I trusted you with my life. And honestly, I looked up to you more than anyone. Most of all, I saw you as my dad, not just a stepdad.”
She talked about softball games and honor roll achievements she wanted to share with him. “Nothing will ever be the same again because of you,” she said. “When you murdered my brothers Clayton, Hunter, and Chase, you took my mom’s life and my own life too.”
Laura’s statement described the daily reality of her loss: “I lost my husband and my children to this horrible crime. The law will never replace my life and give me back what I have lost.”
She agreed with the plea deal. A death penalty trial would have dragged the case out for years, forcing her and Alexis to relive the trauma repeatedly.
She asked the court, the community, and anyone following the case to remember her sons for who they were. Three brothers who loved fishing, go-karting, and swimming. Boys who were always at baseball fields or running around outside. “Their lives are not only about what happened to them. They are so much more than that.”
Community Response
Laura’s sister, Rachel Hensley Brown, created a GoFundMe page on June 23, 2023. The fundraiser aimed to cover funeral costs, medical expenses, and trauma therapy.
“In regards to your amazing generosity, these funds will be used to support my sister and my niece in the struggles they will face moving forward in a world without their tiny shadows,” she wrote.
The page raised more than $280,000 from nearly 9,000 donors.
Clermont County Sheriff Steve Leahy attended the sentencing hearing. “I was extremely proud of Laura and her daughter,” he said. “They really showed a lot of courage and a lot of strength.”
June 15, 2023, remains burned into the memories of first responders who arrived at the scene. “Those are things that you just never get over or get past,” Leahy said.
The Questions That Remain
Before June 15, there were no warning signs. No calls to law enforcement about domestic problems. No reports of trouble at home.
“This was just a normal family that seemed very happy,” Tekulve said.
Chad had one prior criminal offense: a 2010 domestic violence charge for allegedly choking his father. The case was dismissed after his father failed to appear as a witness.
Laura had plans to homeschool the boys. The family seemed ordinary. Chad went to work. The boys played baseball and went fishing. Alexis excelled in school and played softball.
What happened inside Chad’s mind in those months between October 2022 and June 2023 remains unclear. He gave conflicting statements to detectives about his sleep in the days before the murders. He told his mother about “confusing feelings” but didn’t seek help.
In recorded jail phone calls, he told his mother he didn’t want to meet with a psychiatrist because “it wouldn’t get him anything.” When asked if he felt bad about what he did, he said no.
Where Laura Doerman Is Now
Laura has not spoken publicly beyond her court statement. Court records show she is now divorced from Chad.
She and Alexis have retreated from public view. The prosecution’s decision to accept the plea deal was made partly to protect them from additional trauma.
“No one wanted to see Laura or Alexis go through any more trauma that moving forward with the trial would have drawn out,” prosecutors said.
The case is closed. Chad Doerman will die in prison. But for Laura, the hardest work continues.
“I will hold the life I had and lived so close to my heart forever,” she said in her statement. “Grief will never go away, as it is all the love that is left with no place to go.”
