NEW ALBANY, Ind. — After more than a year, the friends and families of two people shot and killed at a New Albany gas station will have a chance for justice.
On Tuesday, the long-awaited trial began in Floyd County Superior Court for Cherok Douglass, the man charged with murdering his wife, Brandee Douglass, and bystander Lorin Yelle at a Circle K gas station in April 2022.
Floyd County prosecutors revealed Douglass is set to testify in his own defense, in the days to come.
In their opening statement, the state keyed in on the several gunshots heard over surveillance video and the string of crimes they say Douglass committed even after the shootings.
Prosecutors broke down the trial into four phases:
- What happened at the gas station
- The police chase
- What happened at the Onion Restaurant, a nearby restaurant on Charlestown Road
- Statements from Douglass, who will take the stand in his defense
State attorneys will also show more gas station surveillance video, body camera footage, and interviews between police and Douglass -- both at the hospital and later in jail.
Brandee Douglass was a beloved mother of four, and authorities say Yelle was walking out of the gas station that morning and ended up caught 'in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
Authorities say soon after the April 4, 2022 shooting, Douglass led police on a chase. He then allegedly drove to the Onion Restaurant and took the co-owner hostage, reportedly later driving over her and breaking several of her bones.
Douglass was shot by police before being taken into custody. As far as charges, he's facing two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Meanwhile, in the defense's opening statement, attorneys focused on Douglass' mental wellbeing at the time of the shootings. They insist he had a mental break and 'snapped' in fear of his wife's potential infidelity.
Defense attorneys told the jury the violence wasn't premeditated, saying Douglass later expressed regret, saying "I've just killed the woman I love."
Prosecutors brought multiple witnesses to the stand Tuesday, including Lawrence Young -- a gas station customer who said he went to the Circle K that morning for coffee, when he witnessed Douglass shoot Brandee multiple times 'in the head.' Young also testified that he saw Douglass then shoot Yelle twice.
Brittany Linne, one of Brandee's long-time best friends, was in court on Tuesday and talked to WHAS11 News.
"It makes me sick to my stomach to know what he did. He didn't have to go to that extreme. They could have just left, walked away," she said. "I'm here for her. I want the maximum justice served."
Linne says she's been visiting Brandee's gravesite weekly.
"She was my best friend, I still talk to her [and] tell her all my problems," Linne said. "You [now have] kids without a mother [and] a mother without a daughter."
Floyd County Prosecutor Chris Lane tells WHAS11 News he expects this trial to last as long as a couple weeks, with as many as 20 witnesses to bring to the stand.
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