A 14-year-old will spend nearly four more years in juvenile detention after pleading guilty to shooting a St. Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy.
According to Distict Attorney Warren Montgomery, the suspect shot Deputy Kenneth Doby in May 2022. That shooting happened after Doby responded to a burglary call at the Backroads Mercantile on LA 21 in Bush. Montgomery says the teen shot Doby after Doby approached him for questioning and tried to restrain him.
Doby suffered a gunshot wound to his back below his bulletproof vest. Doby is back on the job after undergoing multiple surgeries.
In February, the suspect, whom prosecutors have not identified because he is a minor, entered his plea on attempted first-degree murder and multiple other charges. According to Montgomery, the teen admitted to trying to shoot Doby a second time, but the gun jammed, preventing the teen from firing the second shot. Montgomery added then when investigators asked the teen why he would shoot Doby a second time, the teen allegedly replied, “Why not?”
The teen will serve his sentence at the Florida Parishes Detention Center, where he has been incarcerated since his initial arrest. His release date is scheduled for January 2027, when he turns 18.
