Man pleads guilty to 2 murders in 2021 at seat manufacturing plant
FRANKFORT, Ind. (WISH) — The man accused of fatally shooting two women in August 2021 outside a manufacturing plant has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder.
Just before 4:15 p.m. Aug. 18, 2021, Promise Mays, 21, and her grandmother, Pamela Sledd, 62, were shot outside the NHK Seating of America plant west of Frankfort, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said. The two women were from Rossville.
Court documents say surveillance video from the shooting in NHK parking lot showed Gary Ferrell II, of Frankfort, getting out of his car, going to another vehicle with Mays in it, and then pulling her out of it. Sledd got out and exchanged words with Ferrell as he tried to force Mays into the trunk of his vehicle. Ferrell then shot both women, backed his vehicle over Mays and dragged her body for about 7 feet before exiting the parking lot, according to investigators.
Ferrell fled the shooting scene in a blue Ford Focus, and a police chase reached speeds up to 100 mph before Ferrell crashed in a construction zone in Frankfort. After being repeatedly ordered to exit the car, deputies say Ferrell lit a cigarette and got out.
Ferrell did not have any criminal history that police were aware of in August 2021. He was 26 years old when arrested.
Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Sommer told News 8 by email on Wednesday that the plea deal calls for the murder sentences to be consecutive. “The parties arrived at this agreement after the defendant raised the defense of intellectual disability to the death penalty,” the email said.
News 8 has reached out to Ferrell’s attorney for comment.
Ferrell’s sentencing was set for Aug. 30, online court records show.
The plant, which opened in June 2021, is near the interchange of State Road 28 and Interstate 65. It designs and makes seating for vehicles, and operates production facilities serving the Subaru plant in Lafayette.
Previous coverage
