A Georgia woman, aged 55, has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder of her husband. Cheryl Coe was found guilty of murder and aggravated assault in the death of her 48-year-old spouse, Luther “Luke” Coe III, in Coweta County. The conviction was handed down on Monday, following a trial that revealed a troubled open marriage and a fatal shooting.
The incident occurred on June 23, 2021, when Coweta County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from Cheryl Coe. She reported that she had mistakenly shot her husband, thinking he was an intruder. The call came in around 7:30 p.m., shortly after she had retired to bed, leaving her husband working in his detached garage.
According to her initial statement to the police, Cheryl Coe had consumed several hard cider drinks on the porch before going to bed around 7:15 p.m. She claimed to have been startled awake when the bedroom door opened abruptly, and in fear, she shot at what she believed was an intruder.
However, her account quickly unraveled when investigators found that Luther Coe’s gunshot wound was a contact wound, indicating that the firearm was discharged while in direct contact with his body. This contradicted Cheryl Coe’s claim that she had fired the gun from a distance.
Following this revelation, Cheryl Coe changed her narrative, stating that she had shot her husband in self-defense. She alleged that he had stormed into the room and attempted to drag her out of bed. She claimed to have fired a warning shot, which angered him, before shooting him a second time.
Despite her efforts to assist paramedics in treating her husband, he later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. As the investigation continued, text messages revealed ongoing disputes within the couple’s open marriage. Cheryl Coe had asked her husband for permission to see another man, a request that had sparked a heated argument.
During her trial, Cheryl Coe maintained her self-defense claim, stating that her husband had been more enraged than ever before. She also claimed that she initially reported the shooting as an accident to protect her husband’s reputation.
In their closing arguments, prosecutors highlighted Cheryl Coe’s inconsistent narratives. “She brought a gun to a verbal spat,” prosecutor Laura Lukert stated. Luther Coe, a U.S. Army veteran and owner of a demolition and road grading company, is survived by his family.