Caroline County man who shot two Hispanic men sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crime charges

CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia man has been sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges involving the attempt to kill two Hispanic men, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Douglas Wayne Cornett, of Ruther Glen, pleaded guilty to two counts of federal hate crimes — each involving an attempt to kill and discharge a firearm during a federal crime, the DOJ said on Friday, Nov. 14.

Last year, then-57-year-old Cornett was arrested for a shooting that injured two Hispanic men from Prince William County, according to the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office.

Around 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2024, Spotsylvania officials responded to a shooting in a Sheetz parking lot in the 5000 block of Mudd Tavern Road in the Thornburg area. They found two Latino men with multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said.

The victims received first aid and were taken to a trauma center with serious injuries.

Cornett was later arrested in connection with the crime for two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and additional firearm violations.

According to the DOJ, earlier in the evening, Cornett followed the first victim -- identified only as O.G. -- into the Sheetz gas station along Interstate 95. Cornett then asked the second victim, J.M. — who's a friend of O.G. — how long O.G. had been in the U.S.

When he learned the O.G. had arrived in the country within the past two years, Cornett fired six rounds from a handgun, striking O.G. three times and J.M. once, the DOJ said.

Cornett later confessed to a deputy with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office that he shot the victims because of his perception of their national origins.

“No one in this country should be hunted down and shot at because of who they are or where they come from,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ Civil Rights Division. “This sentence reflects the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting communities from hate-fueled violence and to hold accountable those who attack others based on prejudice.”