• Chad Doerman, 33, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting deaths of his three young sons in Ohio last year.
• He received three consecutive life terms after pleading guilty to aggravated murder charges and an additional 16 years for felonious assault related to injuries inflicted on his former wife and stepdaughter.
• Prosecutor Mark Tekulve had initially sought the death penalty but decided against it to lessen the trauma for the surviving family members.

A man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the shooting deaths of his three young sons at their Ohio home last year.

A Clermont County judge sentenced Chad Doerman, 33, on Friday to three consecutive life terms after he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder charges. He was also sentenced to another 16 years on two felonious assault charges for injuring his former wife and his stepdaughter.

Prosecutor Mark Tekulve had originally vowed to seek the death penalty in 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.

JUDGE SAYS OHIO DAD’S CONFESSION TO KILLING 3 YOUNG SONS CANNOT BE USED IN COURT

But on Friday he cited the trauma that the surviving family members “experienced that day and continue to experience on a daily basis.”

“My job, as I saw it this week, was to relieve them of that additional agony,” he told reporters Friday.

Prosecutors earlier said that Doerman, who was taken into custody after he was found sitting on a stoop at the home, admitted to having planned the killings and chased down one of the boys in a field after the child tried to flee. Defense attorneys had argued that he was struggling with severe mental illness.

OHIO DAD ACCUSED OF EXECUTING SONS ‘IN COLD BLOOD’ INDICTED ON 21 COUNTS AFTER TWISTED TRIPLE MURDER

Laura Doerman, the children’s mother and the ex-wife of the defendant, wept as a prosecutor read a statement in court from her saying her life had been “ripped away from me 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 issued through prosecutors after the sentencing, she said that she was in “full agreement” with the resolution of the case.

“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 said he plans to reveal more details about the case at a news conference Monday. Laura Doerman thanked prosecutors and first responders and asked for privacy, saying she and the family “grieve every day” for the boys. She also asked, however, that people remember the children as they were before the events of that day.

“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.”

SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners were going into the first of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday off one of the most impressive series wins of the season.

The Mariners took two-of-three games from National League contenders — the Philadelphia Phillies — and the offense looked like it had taken the necessary strides that fans were clamoring for.

Unfortunately that momentum didn’t carry over as a struggling rookie had a career night against the M’s.

Detroit beat Seattle 4-2 on Tuesday off the best start in the fledgling career of pitcher Keider Montero. The Tigers rookie had a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed one earned run on four hits in six innings pitched.

The loss dropped the Mariners to 59-55 on the season and decreased their lead in the American League West down to half a game over the Houston Astros.

“Coming in — I knew this series was going to have its challenges,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said in a postgame interview Tuesday. “Detroit has played a lot of close games this year and they got some young guys that are getting after it. … They put four groundball singles together in the fifth and that happens once in a while. … We were ahead in the count most of the night, didn’t walk anybody.”

Seattle starter Luis Castillo had a solid night and registered another quality start. He finished with nine strikeouts and no walks but allowed three earned runs and eight hits in six innings pitched.

The Tigers put their first run on the board courtesy of an RBI single from Parker Meadows in the top of the fourth.

In the fifth — Colt Keith added to the lead with a single (that was originally ruled an error by first baseman Luke Raley) and then Wenceel Perez brought in one more.

Raley made up for his miscue in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to center field. It was his second homer in four games. Raley’s long ball cut the Tigers’ lead down to 3-1.

Castillo was able to get through the last inning of his start without any further damage. Once Trent Thornton took the mound in the eighth — Meadows blasted a 415-foot solo home run to right field to give Detroit its fourth and final run of the game.

The Mariners had one last rally attempt in them in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and Cade Marlowe on second — a fly ball hit by Jorge Polanco fell between Meadows (the center fielder) and Perez (the right fielder). That hit brought home Cade Marlowe for the eventual final of 4-2.

The Tigers made a pitching change and pinch-hitter Mitch Garver struck out to end the game.

“Mitch is going to continue to play,” Servais said. “He’ll play against left-handed pitching. His numbers against lefties are really good — It’s a well-above-league average OPS. He has had success against lefties so he’ll be in there (Wednesday). Didn’t go his way tonight. It’ll be a good challenge against him tomorrow and hopefully he has some good at-bats.”

Seattle will be back at 6:40 p.m. PT on Wednesday against American League Cy Young candidate Tarik Skubal. George Kirby will get the start for the Mariners.

MARINERS OFFENSE ON THE UPSWING: The Seattle Mariners are averaging almost two home runs a game and are 6-3 since getting swept by the Los Angeles Angels fans on July 24. CLICK HERE

MARINERS RELEASE PITCHING MATCHUPS AGAINST DETROIT: The Seattle Mariners are set to begin a three game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. CLICK HERE

PHILLIES SHUT OUT MARINERS: The Philadelphia Phillies scored five runs in the eighth inning and starter Zack Wheeler had nine strikeouts in eight innings pitched in the series finale against the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. CLICK HERE

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Four hotel employees who allegedly pinned a man to the ground after he behaved erratically in a Hyatt Regency lobby in the US state of Wisconsin are facing murder charges.

D’Vontaye Mitchell, 43, ran into a women’s bathroom before staff dragged him outside, beat him and held him face down on the ground for eight or nine minutes, according to court documents.

Mitchell was unresponsive when police arrived at the scene in Milwaukee on 30 June. He was later pronounced dead.

He died of “restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine”, found a post-mortem examination that also noted he was morbidly obese.

Milwaukee County district attorney’s office issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for the four now-former employees at the hotel.

They are two security guards, Todd Alan Erickson, 60, and Brandon LaDaniel Turner, 35, who was off duty at the time of the incident; as well as Devin Johnson-Carson, 23, a front desk agent; and Herbert Williamson, 53, a door attendant, according to court documents.

If convicted, they each would face up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

The incident unfolded when Mitchell entered the hotel and began running around, attempting to hide in places.

He went into the gift shop, then a women’s bathroom, where he tried to lock the door. Mr Turner told police he heard women screaming in the toilet.

Video surveillance footage showed hotel workers forcing him out of the bathroom and dragging him outside through the hotel lobby.

Two of them repeatedly struck Mitchell and another kicked him, according to the court documents. They are apparently heard in a bystander’s mobile phone footage telling him to “stay down” and “stop fighting”.

Mr Erickson told investigators that Mitchell had tried to bite him.

Mitchell is heard saying he is sorry during the struggle, according to audio from a video taken by an onlooker.

One of the employees said Mitchell was having difficulty breathing and had been pleading for help, according to the charge-sheet.

Ben Crump, a lawyer representing the family, said: “Mitchell was in the midst of a mental health crisis and, instead of abiding by their duty to protect and serve, the security officers and other Hyatt staff used excessive force that inflicted injury resulting in death.”

Mitchell’s widow, Deasia Harmon, told reporters on Tuesday she was “grateful” for the charges.

“I just want everyone to be held accountable,” she said.

The company that runs the hotel, Aimbridge Hospitality, has previously said several employees were fired over Mitchell’s death.