FLOYD COUNTY — Criminal charges have been filed against a man who police now say killed his own wife and another person in a gas station parking lot, fled officers, then took a hostage at gunpoint and tried to hit officers with a car.
Cherok A. Douglass, 37, of New Albany, Ind., is currently being held at Floyd County Jail on two counts of murder and one count each of attempted murder, kidnapping while hijacking a vehicle and robbery resulting in serious bodily injuries. All charges are felonies.
Cherok Douglass was shot by responding officers with the New Albany Police Department and Floyd County Sheriff's Department when he tried to run officers over with an SUV he had forced a woman hostage into, according to Indiana State Police. ISP investigated the shooting.
Police first responded at about 10 a.m. Monday for a double-homicide at a Circle K gas station at Beechwood and Grant Line roads. There, they found two victims, later identified as Cherok Douglass' wife, Brandee Kay Douglass, 38, and Lorin M. Yelle, 48, of Louisville, Ky.
RELATED | New Albany double homicide suspect, victims named
ISP said Yelle had no connection to either Brandee or Cherok Douglass and was a customer at the gas station. She was shot as she was exiting the store.
Officers then saw a suspect, later identified as Cherok Douglass, fleeing in an SUV. They chased the suspect onto Charlestown Road, north of Interstate 265, where Douglass stopped at
a local restaurant and at gunpoint took a woman as a hostage.
He then forced the woman into the SUV. At one point, the woman fell from the vehicle, at which point he tried to run over officers. It was then officers opened fire, wounding him. He was transported with non-life-threatening injuries to a university hospital in Louisville.
Cherok Douglass was extradited from Kentucky on Wednesday, ISP said. An initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled on his behalf.
Autopsies for the victims are scheduled for next Monday.
-
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey to be next Chief Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced on Thursday that Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey has been appointed as Chief Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff, effective February 2.
Westfield leaders say city needs more families to support school enrollment
City officials argue strategic housing development is necessary to maintain student numbers and avoid budget cuts in the school district.
Teen driver faces OWI causing death charge in fatal Madison County crash
An 18-year-old Anderson man has been charged with operating while intoxicated causing death after a fatal head-on collision Thursday morning near Markleville.
Indiana's Cignetti wins 2025 Dodd Trophy for coaching excellence
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has been named winner of the 2025 Dodd Trophy, college football's most coveted national coaching award.
