Family of victim reacts to murder conviction
A Dade County man has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after a jury convicted him in the 2021 murder of 23-year-old Leea Abigail Raines.
Registered sex offender Jeremiah Douglas, a 41-year-old resident of Trenton, Georgia, was convicted Friday of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and two counts of giving false statements, according to a release from the Dade County Sheriff’s Office.
Donnie Raines, the father of Leea Raines, expressed his gratitude for the conviction.
“Justice was served. It doesn’t make it any better, but at least we know he will never be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Raines told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in a direct message on social media.
Donnie Raines thanked those who worked on the case including law enforcement, the prosecutors, the jury and the judge for “an amazing job speaking for Leea when she couldn’t speak for herself.”
On Nov. 5, 2021, the body of Leea Raines was found in the middle of Highway 299 in Dade County. Soon after the incident, Dade County Sheriff Ray Cross said multiple witnesses and surveillance video from local businesses indicated Douglas pushed Leea Raines out of a moving truck that same day. She was declared dead by first responders at the scene.
Friday’s release said Douglas was identified and arrested within 24 hours. Douglas was originally charged with felony murder and a probation violation, according to reporting from the Chattanooga Times Free Press at the time.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry shows that on March 14, 2012, Douglas was convicted of child molestation, felony statutory rape and enticing a child for indecent purposes and sentenced to 40 years with the first 10 to be served in prison. The site also said he was not classified as a predator or an absconder.
Douglas was designated as a Level 2 sex offender, meaning the state deemed him to be an
intermediate sex offense risk and intermediate recidivism risk” for future sexual offenses. Only two levels are listed on the GBI’s website, with Level 1 meaning the sex offender is at a low risk of recidivism for future sex crimes.
Douglas was released from prison on parole in November 2018, according to a Tuesday news release from the Dade County Sheriff’s Office.
Evidence in the fourday trial showed that Leea Raines and Douglas were in an on-again, off-again relationship, according a statement from Chris Arnt, district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit. Arnt also said evidence showed that Leea Raines and Douglas lived together at Douglas’ home on Patterson Drive in Wildwood.
The Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit includes the Northwest Georgia counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker.
The district attorney said the incident began in the early morning of Nov. 5, 2021, when the pair had an argument while driving.
“In a fit of rage, Douglas maliciously shoved Raines out of the vehicle, which was traveling at around 70 miles per hour, and fled the scene,” the district attorney said in the news release.
In his defense during the trial, Douglas argued that Leea Raines jumped out of the truck, the district attorney said. But the prosecution countered that Douglas said he did not slow down during the incident — which could have saved her life. The district attorney said the jury believed the prosecution, proven by Douglas’ conviction on all charges.
An obituary for Leea Raines said she was known as a charming and witty artist who loved to draw, write poems and listen to music. Her family and friends referred to her affectionally as “Leea Buggs,” the obituary also said.
“I do feel justice was done in this case as he will never again harm any other women or child,” Gail Moore, the aunt of Donnie Raines, said in an email. “The only other thing he could have gotten was death, but at least he will never see the light of day.”