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An Andalusia man pled guilty to second degree domestic violence and was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week.

Kenneth Lamar Douglas, 49, was arrested in March 2022 by Escambia County Sheriff’s Department deputies after he fled Covington County. Court records indicate that earlier on that same day, Juanita Stanley of Andalusia, and Douglas’s mother, drove herself to the emergency room at Andalusia Hospital.

“She had multiple lacerations to her face and head,” according to District Attorney Walt Merrell, who prosecuted the case. “She told the doctor, and later an investigator with the Covington County Sheriff’s Office, that her son had attacked her and hit her repeatedly in her face. Her injuries were serious. The medical records show she had a broken nose, two busted lips, both of her eyes were bruised and swollen, and she was seriously traumatized.”

Merrell added that Stanley told investigators that Douglas warned her, “You go to the police, and I will kill you.  I’ll find you, and I’ll kill you. Fortunately, he never got the chance.”

Through a coordinated effort with multiple agencies, Douglas was arrested on outstanding felony warrants.

“Those warrants had been issued prior to this assault and we are thankful that the law enforcement response was swift and diligent. Douglas was taken into custody before he could act out his final threat to his mother,” Merrell said. “I’ve always believed one way to ‘fix the problem’ is to put some people in prison for as long as possible. That’s what we did.”

Stanley died from natural causes on Sept. 5.

“That made the ultimate prosecution of the case more complex,” Merrell said. “We can still prosecute even if the victim passes away — so we did. How we prove our case becomes more difficult. I routinely hear defendants say, ‘the victim died,’ as if the law now excuses defendants’ prior misconducts. It doesn’t work that way. Justice can —and should — survive a victim’s passing.

“I do hate that Miss Juanita didn’t get to see the finality of the case. She was torn, like any mother would be. She loved her son, but she also knew that the man who attacked her was not the son she had raised.”

According to Merrell, under the current status of the law, he expects Douglas to serve at least 20 years of the 25-year sentence.

“The law says he should serve 85 percent because it is a violent crime. He is 49, so that makes him 69 when he gets done with this sentence. And he has charges in other jurisdictions, too.”