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A Covington County man was sentenced this week in federal court to 32 years on charges related to a violent carjacking in 2022.

Kenneth Lamar Douglas, 49, of Andalusia was convicted in April of multiple federal crimes, including carjacking, brandishing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to evidence presented at trial, Douglas was at the Andalusia home of the female victim in the case on March 7, 2022. The following day, he threatened and physically struck her, knocking her to the floor. Evidence presented indicated that Douglas was trying to arrange with a supplier to get methamphetamine, a drug that he had used for several years.

On the afternoon of March 8, Douglas agreed to leave the residence and he and the victim got into her car. Douglas brought with him a bag of clothing and a shotgun.

First, Douglas asked the victim to take him to a residence where a methamphetamine supplier lived, but when they got there, Douglas instructed her to drive to a different location, a demand she refused. At that point, Douglas struck the victim in the side of the neck and head with enough force to knock the victim unconscious. When she awoke, she was upside down in the passenger’s seat and covered in blood from gashes in her head and mouth.

Douglas, who was now the driver of the vehicle, told the victim he was taking her to an abandoned house in Escambia County where he was going to kill her and bury her in the backyard. The victim pleaded with Douglas not to kill her and upon arriving at the house, he took his clothes inside and then returned to the car. He asked the victim how much money she had to which she said, she did not know but that he could have it all if he did not kill her. Douglas took the money and drove back toward the supplier’s house. He stopped the car a short distance from that residence, took the shotgun, and walked away from the car. The victim moved to the driver’s seat and drove to a friend’s workplace in Andalusia.

The friend testified at trial that she was horrified at the victim’s appearance and followed her a short distance to the Andalusia Health emergency room. As the victim was being treated, hospital staff called police.

The violent nature of the attack was apparent based on the victim’s injuries and appearance. Her eyes were swollen shut and she sustained cuts and bruises across much of her face. An examination revealed a large gash on top of her head and cuts inside her mouth, along with other injuries. The victim described to the jury a bruise to her face and neck in the shape of the butt stock of Douglas’ shotgun.

The Andalusia Police Department and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office went to the house where Douglas had taken the victim. While there was no electricity or plumbing, a generator was running. Law enforcement saw Douglas standing by a light inside the house, but as they approached he pointed a shotgun toward them, leading them to seek cover. Douglas found a way out of the house and escaped into the darkness, but was later found and arrested.

A shotgun found at the house was determined to have the victim’s DNA in the grooves of the butt stock.

Douglas said at trial 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. The jury found him guilty on all three counts of the indictment.

U.S. District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose sentenced Douglas to a total of 32 years in prison, consisting of 10 years on the felony in possession charge, 25 years on the carjacking charge, to run concurrently with each other, and seven 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 crime be forfeited to the government and Douglas will also be required to pay $100 to the victim of the carjacking as restitution.