A tragic end to a summer day unfolded in the parking lot of an Indiana automotive plant, forever altering the lives of a Frankfort family. On August 18, 2021, 62-year-old Pamela Sledd and her 21-year-old granddaughter, Promise Mays, were arriving for their shift at the NHK Seating of America factory when they were brutally gunned down. The devastating event occurred around 4:15 p.m.
during a shift change, plunging the workplace into chaos as multiple employees witnessed the horrific scene and dialed 911. Both Pamela and Promise died at the scene.
The man responsible for this senseless act of violence was a co-worker, 26-year-old Gary C. Ferrell II. The attack was not random; Ferrell had previously been in a relationship with Promise Mays. On that fateful afternoon, he confronted the two women in the parking lot. Evidence, including factory security footage, revealed that Ferrell attempted to force Mays into the trunk of his car at gunpoint. When Pamela Sledd tried to intervene to protect her granddaughter, Ferrell shot her before then shooting Mays. In a final act of brutality, he backed his vehicle over Mays' body as he fled the scene.
A swift police response led to a high-speed chase, with Ferrell reaching speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. The pursuit ended when he crashed his vehicle into a construction zone in Frankfort. He was taken into custody without resistance. Investigators later learned of Ferrell's chilling plan: he intended to take Mays to his home and set it on fire, killing them both. He had prepared beer bottles filled with gasoline for this purpose.
Initially, prosecutors sought the death penalty for Gary Ferrell II, charging him with two counts of murder, criminal confinement, and resisting law enforcement. However, in April 2023, a plea agreement was reached. Ferrell pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the death penalty request after Ferrell's defense raised the issue of his intellectual disability. In September 2023, a judge sentenced Ferrell to 110 years in prison—55 years for each murder, to be served consecutively. The judge described the killings as 'brutal and heinous,' noting the premeditated nature of the crime and the unimaginable horror Pamela and Promise endured as they witnessed each other being shot.
