A 55-year-old woman from Georgia has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of her husband. Cheryl Coe was convicted of murder and aggravated assault in connection with the death of her 48-year-old husband, Luther “Luke” Coe III, in Coweta County. The verdict was delivered on Monday, following a trial that exposed a tumultuous open marriage and a deadly shooting.
The incident took place on June 23, 2021, when the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from Cheryl Coe. She reported that she had accidentally shot her husband, mistaking him for an intruder. The call was made around 7:30 p.m., shortly after she had gone to bed, leaving her husband working in his detached garage.
In her initial statement to the police, Cheryl Coe said she had consumed several hard cider drinks on the porch before retiring to bed around 7:15 p.m. She reported being jolted awake when the bedroom door opened suddenly, and in a state of fear, she fired at what she thought was an intruder.
However, her story began to fall apart when investigators discovered that Luther Coe’s gunshot wound was a contact wound, suggesting that the firearm was discharged while in direct contact with his body. This contradicted Cheryl Coe’s assertion that she had fired the gun from a distance.
In light of this discovery, Cheryl Coe altered her story, stating that she had shot her husband in self-defense. She claimed that he had barged into the room and tried to pull her out of bed. She said she fired a warning shot, which angered him, before shooting him a second time.
Despite her attempts to help paramedics treat her husband, he later died from his injuries at a hospital. As the investigation progressed, text messages revealed ongoing conflicts within the couple’s open marriage. Cheryl Coe had asked her husband for permission to see another man, a request that had ignited a heated argument.
Throughout her trial, Cheryl Coe stuck to her self-defense claim, stating that her husband had been more furious 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 underscored 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.