INDEPENDENCE — An Independence man could spend a minimum of nearly 45 years in prison for his involvement in a double murder and the attempted murder of a third person in Independence in October 2020.
In Montgomery County District Court on Wednesday, James T. Gofourth, age 23, pleaded no contest to reduced counts of second degree murder and aggravated battery, the Montgomery County Chronicle reported.
Gofourth admitted to shooting and killing Tyler Cook, age 27, and Rodricus Dawson, age 24, both of Independence, at the Terrace Townshouses, 524 N. Penn in October 2020, the newspaper reported. A third victim in the case was also a target of Gofourth in that same incident. That third victim was hospitalized and later released.
Gofourth was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.
However, at Wednesday’s hearing, Gofourth and the Montgomery County Attorney announced a joint plea deal that allows Gofourth to plead no contest to reduced criminal charges, the newspaper reported.
Under the provisions of the plea agreement, Gofourth and the Montgomery County Attorney are jointly recommending that he be sentenced to a total of 536 months in prison. This translates to about 44½ years behind bars.
Judge Jeffrey Gossard will decide the sentencing July 22.
