Despite a request to withdraw his guilty plea, Jeremy Demar will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the 2017 shooting deaths of Fort Campbell soldiers Priscilla East and Christopher Hoch following final sentencing Wednesday in Christian Circuit Court.
Demar accepted a deal in December of last year, pleading guilty to two counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges. The deal allowed him to avoid the death penalty, but Demar asked Circuit Judge John Atkins to allow him to withdraw his plea, saying he regrets the deal and he was scared and felt pressure when he signed it.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling noted Demar’s plea was entered voluntarily and asked the judge to honor it.
The deal came with life in prison without the possibility of parole and that’s what Judge John Atkins sentenced Demar to.
The family of Priscilla East submitted a victim’s impact statement for Judge Atkins to read and they said Demar will have a lifetime to think about his actions.
Hoch’s fiancé also submitted a statement that was read to the court, saying her nightmare continues three years after the crime and she hopes Demar suffers with his own nightmare in prison.
East was Demar’s estranged wife and he shot her and Hoch at a home on Arkansas Avenue in Oak Grove in February of 2017.