In the quiet town of Newnan, Georgia, the life of 48-year-old Luther 'Luke' Lee Coe III, a white male, came to a tragic and violent end on the evening of June 23, 2021. What initially was reported as a terrible accident would soon unravel into a case of murder, revealing a tumultuous relationship and a series of conflicting stories. The events of that night would leave a family shattered and a community in disbelief.
On that Wednesday evening, at approximately 7:30 PM, emergency services received a frantic 911 call from Cheryl Coe, Luke's wife. She claimed she had accidentally shot her husband at their home on Tommy Lee Cook Road. When deputies from the Coweta County Sheriff's Office arrived, they found Luke Coe in a bedroom, still alive but suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite immediate medical attention, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Investigators at the scene quickly began to question the initial claim of an accidental shooting. The evidence suggested otherwise, leading to Cheryl Coe's arrest the following day on charges of murder and aggravated assault. As the investigation deepened, a complex and troubled narrative emerged. Cheryl Coe's account of the incident shifted multiple times. Initially, she told authorities she had been drinking and had gone to bed, only to be startled by the bedroom door opening. Believing it was an intruder, she fired her gun.
However, the forensic evidence contradicted her story. The medical examiner determined that the fatal shot was a contact wound, meaning the muzzle of the gun was pressed against Luke's body when it was fired. Faced with this, Cheryl's story changed to one of self-defense, alleging that her husband had stormed into the room and tried to drag her from the bed. She claimed she fired a warning shot before firing the second, fatal shot, not intending to hit him. The motive behind the shooting appeared to stem from a disagreement over the terms of their open marriage. Text messages presented during the trial revealed a heated argument between the couple in the days leading up to the shooting.
After a weeklong trial in August 2025, a Coweta County jury found Cheryl Coe, then 55, guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. She was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The first trial, held earlier in February 2025, had ended in a mistrial as the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. During the second trial, the prosecution highlighted Cheryl's inconsistent statements to law enforcement and her admission of lying under oath.
