JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two brothers convicted in connection to a sexual battery and attempted murder incident in 2013 were both sentenced Thursday to nine life terms plus 10 years in prison.
Donald Dickerson, 34, and James Dickerson, 32, were both found guilty in August of two counts of attempted first-degree felony murder, one count of attempted manslaughter, three counts of kidnapping with a weapon, two counts of sexual battery with great force, one count of armed robbery and one count of first-degree arson.
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Officers arrived at the Motel 6 on Dix Ellis Trail in July 2013 in reference to a fire. When police arrived, they found the three injured victims, one of whom had suffered a gunshot wound to the head, state attorneys said.
The investigation revealed that one of the victims had made arrangements to hang out with Donald Dickerson.
State attorneys said shortly after, his brother, James Dickerson, arrived at the hotel room, pulled a gun and ordered the two female victims to take their clothes off.
James Dickerson forced one of the victims to tie up the other with bed sheets before he tied her up and raped both of the women multiple times, according to state attorneys. During the crime, Donald Dickerson assisted his brother with the assault.
When the third victim arrived, he was forced inside at gunpoint, tied up and ordered not to move while the Dickersons continued to rape the female victims. State attorneys said when one of the victims tried to fight back, she was shot in the head.
The Dickersons then stole $400 and car keys, lit the room on fire and fled the scene in one of the victim's vehicles, state attorneys said.
The male victim, along with the help of a good Samaritan, managed to break loose and drag the two women outside to safety. State attorneys said the victim that sustained the gunshot wound survived the shooting but is now blind.