Violent Carjacker Sentenced In Federal Court

MOBILE, AL - An Andalusia, Alabama, man was sentenced to 32 years in federal prison for a brutal, violent carjacking, brandishing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Kenneth Lamar Douglas, 49, was convicted of the federal crimes by a jury during April of 2024. Evidence produced at the trial showed that Douglas was staying at the victim's residence in Andalusia overnight on March 7, 2022, and on March 8, he threatened her and physically struck her, knocking her to the floor in her kitchen. Douglas was trying to arrange with a supplier to get methamphetamine, as he had been a heavy user of methamphetamine for years. Finally, during the afternoon of March 8, Douglas agreed to leave the residence and he and the victim got into her car. Douglas had a bag containing his clothes and a shotgun when he got into the car. Douglas asked to go to a residence where a methamphetamine supplier lived, but when they arrived, Douglas asked to go to a different location. The victim, who was driving her own car, refused to take him to another location. Douglas struck the victim in the side of the neck and head with such force that she was knocked unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she was upside down in the passenger's seat and covered in blood. She was bleeding from gashes in her head and mouth. Her face was covered in blood.

Douglas was driving her to an abandoned house in the woods of Escambia County, where he told her he was going to kill her and bury her in the backyard where no one could find her. She pleaded with him not to kill her, and when they arrived at the abandoned house, Douglas took his clothes into the house and returned to the car. He asked the victim how much money she had, and she said she did not know but he could have it all and asked again that he not kill her. Douglas took the money and drove back toward the drug supplier's house. Douglas stopped the car a short distance from the drug suppliers house, took shotgun, and walked away from the car. The victim got behind the wheel and drove to Andalusia, to a friend's workplace near the hospital. The victim's friend testified at the trial that she was horrified at the victim's appearance and told her she would follow her to the emergency room. There, the victim was treated, and medical personnel at the hospital called the police to report the violent assault demonstrated by the victim's injuries.

Her eyes were almost swollen shut. She had cuts and bruises all over her face. Her face and head were literally covered in blood and the examination revealed a large gash on the top of her head. Her lips were swollen and cut on the inside of her mouth. She had a chipped tooth. Her nose was broken in three places and the breaks were displaced. The x-rays showed that she had blood in her sinuses from the force of the repeated blows to her head. She had a large bloody scrape on her leg. She also had a sprained left wrist from the initial attack on her in her kitchen at the house. A photograph from two weeks later still showed significant bruising and injuries to the victim's face. The victim testified that she also had bruises on her upper chest and side. She explained that suffered serious and prolonged pain from these injuries. She stayed away from her house at a friend's house for two weeks, until after Douglas was arrested, out of fear that Douglas would return and further harm her or kill her. The victim described to the jury that she had a large bruise on the side of her face and neck shaped like the butt stock of Douglas' shotgun.

Andalusia Police spoke to the victim at the hospital and began to search for Douglas. After dark, they surrounded the abandoned house in Escambia County, along with Escambia County sheriff's deputies. The house had no electricity or plumbing but a generator was running a light inside. The deputies approached the house and saw Douglas standing beside the light in the house. Douglas pointed the shotgun at the deputy approaching the open front door and the deputies took cover. They attempted to talk Douglas out of the house, but he escaped under cover of darkness. The shotgun was recovered from the house along with paraphernalia used for intravenous methamphetamine abuse. DNA testing showed the victim's blood in the grooves on the end of the butt stock.

Douglas claimed during the trial that he did not use the shotgun to strike the victim and that he did not intend to carjack her vehicle due to his severe drug addiction. A psychologist from the Bureau of Prisons had examined Douglas prior to the trial to address his claims of legal incapacity based upon his mental condition and testified at the trial to contradict Douglas' claims. The jury found Douglas guilty of all three counts charged in the indictment.

United States District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose sentenced Douglas to a total of 32 years in prison, consisting of 10 years on the felon in possession charge, 25 years on the carjacking charge, to run concurrently with each other, and 7 years on brandishing a firearm in connection with a violent crime, to run consecutively to the sentences on the other two counts. When Douglas is released from prison, he will serve a five-year term of supervised release. Judge Dubose further ordered that Douglas undergo drug abuse counseling and treatment and mental health evaluation and treatment while he is in prison. The judge ordered that drug testing and treatment as well as mental health counseling will also be included as conditions of his supervised release. The judge ordered that the shotgun used in the commission of the crime is forfeited to the United States, and Douglas will also be required to pay $100 to the victim of the carjacking as restitution. No fine was imposed but the judge ordered that Douglas pay $300 in special assessments.

U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Andalusia Police Department and the Escambia County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.