GRAPHIC: Father accused of killing 3 sons pleads not guilty by reason of insanity

BATAVIA, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - A father accused of killing his three sons last year pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday.

“You always want to cover your bases,” legal analyst Mark Krumbein said as to why two pleas were entered. “He is saying, ‘I’m not guilty, period.’ He’s also claiming, ‘I’m not guilty by reason of insanity.’ Both of those are allowable pleas.”

GRAPHIC WARNING: Details may be disturbing for some readers.

The state of Ohio asking for a second evaluation to determine 32-year-old Chad Doerman’s mental condition on June 15, 2023.

That day, Doerman’s sons Clayton, 7, Hunter, 4, and Chase, 3, were shot and killed at their home by their father, according to court records and the Clermont County Prosecutors Office.

According to authorities, Doerman shot one son while he slept, another while he was trying to run away and the youngest while he was laying on the ground after his mother and sister tried to save him.

The boys’ mother, 34, was shot in her hand trying to protect them.

She called 911 and screamed her “babies had been shot,” sheriff’s officials wrote in a news release. Also that day, a separate caller who drove by the home called 911 and reported seeing a young girl running down the road warning “her father was killing everyone.”

Doerman was allegedly contemplating killing his sons since October 2022 and told police in an interview “the thoughts of having to kill his sons [were] so heavy on him that he hadn’t slept for three or four days prior to murdering his three sons.”

He was previously indicted on 21 counts, including nine counts of aggravated murder in June 2023.

Doerman’s trial is scheduled to start in July.

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