Credit: Preble County Jail
Credit: Preble County Jail
Crews responded around 10:45 p.m. Sept. 7 to a mobile home in the 6500 block of state Route 121 West in Jefferson Twp. just outside New Paris on a report of a fire with a person trapped inside, Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson said previously.
A woman who lived in the mobile home reported she was going to sleep when she heard popping sounds and Doolin ask, “Are you going to stop shooting off those fireworks?” according to an affidavit filed in Eaton Municipal Court.
The mobile home caught fire shortly after and the woman escaped through a window in her bedroom.
Doolin was found dead inside the mobile home. An autopsy confirmed he died from smoke inhalation, according to court records.
The woman told authorities she heard a vehicle start and speed out of the driveway as she was escaping the mobile home and saw it turn right toward Richmond, according to the affidavit.
Luker was arrested the next day and interviewed. He admitted he had been setting off fireworks the night of the fire and accidentally set fire to the mobile home, according to court records.
“He fled the scene out of fear,” the affidavit read.
Luker also admitted he took the vehicle and a .22 caliber rifle without permission from the residents.
Although the fire was not intentionally set, prosecutors sought the maximum sentence of three years.
“This defendant could have attempted to save the victim, a man whom he claims to have loved, a man who took him in when he was facing homelessness, a man whom this defendant knew was suffering from physical ailments that would make it difficult for him to escape a fully engulfed trailer fire, but he did not. This defendant could have called 911 for help, but he did not,” wrote Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Eric Marit in a sentencing memorandum. “Instead, this defendant opted to steal the victim’s car and flee, leaving the victim and another inhabitant to fend for themselves.”
Luker’s defense attorney, Samuel Borst, asked the court to place him on three years of probation with addiction treatment because the more was accidental that caused the death of his uncle and he has family support for his rehabilitation.
“At the time that the porch area caught fire, he was unaware of that fact, because he ad already gone into the backyard of the trailer. Once he heard popping, he became aware of the fire, and at that point it was too late to enter the trailer, he panicked, and left,” Borst wrote.
Luker is remorseful, and attempted to take his own life the night of the fire, according to his attorney.
As part of Luker’s plea agreement, felony charges of having weapons while under disability, grand theft when the property is a firearm or dangerous ordnance and receiving stolen property were dismissed.
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