Fayetteville, North Carolina – A woman who was convicted of committing two gang-initiation murders over two decades ago has been granted parole by the state Post Release Supervision & Parole Commission. Tameika Douglas, now 40 years old, was sentenced to life without parole in September 2000 for her involvement in the abduction and murders of two women in August 1998, as well as the shooting of another victim who survived.
Douglas, who was just 15 years old at the time of the crimes, was convicted on multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. In 2021, the state Court of Appeals overturned the life sentence initially imposed on her.
The murders were said to be part of an initiation into the Crips gang, with eight other individuals also convicted in connection to the killings. The crimes involved abducting the victims, one of whom survived being shot multiple times after being left for dead by a group of gang members at a local lake.
Following the first abduction, the gang members proceeded to force two young women into a car trunk and take them on a deadly ride that ended with both victims being fatally shot and left in an isolated field. The bodies were later discovered by a farmer, and the gang members, including Douglas, were eventually apprehended after using a stolen phone belonging to one of the victims.
While Douglas has been released from prison and is no longer in North Carolina, she will be on post-release supervision for the next five years. The majority of her co-defendants remain in custody, with varying sentences ranging from life imprisonment to eventual release in the coming years.
Several of the individuals involved in the crimes received death sentences, some of which were later overturned or converted to life imprisonment due to changes in legislation. The tragic events from over two decades ago continue to have lasting consequences for those involved, even as the legal system works to address the complexities of the case.