FRANKFORT, Ind. (August 30, 2023) – Towards the conclusion of nearly five-hours of testimony conducted in a Clinton County courtroom today, family members and friends of Promise Mays and Pamela Sledd heard directly from the killer that took the lives of those two on the afternoon of August 18, 2021, in a NHK parking lot near State Road 28 and Interstate 65.
Clinton County Superior Court Judge Justin Hunter asked if the defendant, Gary Ferrell II, would like to make a statement to the court.
Ferrell – who spent much of the proceedings looking downward and away, avoiding eye contact of those called to deliver impact statements – stood and began to apologize “for the acts of violence for which I am guilty of.”
Reading from a folded piece of paper, he continued, “I have taken the lives of two innocent human beings and inflicted unimaginable pain onto the victims family, friends and to my own family. For all of this, I am deeply sorry. I understand that my acts caused an unimaginable amount of pain and torment for those that knew them the best. If I could do it all over again, I would have gotten the help I need instead of letting my own pain get out of control. I am very sorry.”
Earlier in the hearing Clinton County Prosecutor Tony Sommer played two videos from NHK security cameras showing what Judge Hunter described as “brutal murders.”
The videos, one from a camera looking from the building towards the parking lot, the other from an outer parking lot area looking back towards the building, revealed scenes previously described in a 2021 probable cause affidavit.
Ferrell’s blue Focus was parked next to a black Chevrolet in which Mays was a passenger. Ferrell opened the trunk of his car then “exits his vehicle with a black object in his right hand that appears to be a semi-automatic firearm.” He then walked to the passenger door of the black Chevrolet, opened the door, “forcibly pulls” Mays by grabbing her arm, and “pulls her to the rear of the blue Ford.” Mays attempts to resist but is “over powered.”
Sledd exits the driver side of the black Chevrolet and has “an exchange of words” with Ferrell prior to him making a “pointing motion with the firearm towards the NHK building.” Sledd attempts to “move away from the scene” and “appears she is shot when Ferrell lowers the gun” at Sledd. She continues to “move away” from Ferrell and the video appears to show “that a second and third round are shot” at Sledd and she “collapses on the ground.”
Mays is now in a “crouched type position” behind the blue Focus. Ferrell has his gun pointed at Mays’ “head and is still trying to force Promise into the trunk of his vehicle.”
“Ferrell then appears to shoot Promise and then she falls to the ground behind the Ford Focus and lies motionless.” He then enters his vehicle leaving the trunk open and “after a few seconds the vehicle backs up and runs over Promise and comes to a rest after turning about 90 degrees. Promise’s body is drug about 7 feet and the car stops and then goes forward, leaving the parking lot.”
In addition to the security video, Prosecutor Sommer played the video of the interview Lt. Dan Roudebush of the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office conducted with Ferrell on the evening of the arrest.
Lt. Roudebush asked Ferrell why had he done what he done. Ferrell replied, “I couldn’t get her (Promise) out of my mind.” When asked to describe what led up to the killings that afternoon, Ferrell described drinking the night before and waking in the morning to drive to Lafayette to purchase ammunition, then return to his house to fill the empty beer bottles with gasoline, and going to get more gasoline.
Judge Hunter will deliver Ferrell’s sentence in open court during a September 7th, 2pm hearing at the Clinton County Courthouse.
