GASTONIA, N.C. — A North Carolina man was sentenced on Friday to at least 38 years in prison for killing his daughter and daughter-in-law in 2018 by driving his Jeep into a restaurant where his family was seated after attending Sunday worship services together.
The sentence was handed down for Roger Self, 65, the Gaston Gazette reported. In January, Self entered an Alford Plea, meaning he maintained his innocence but acknowledged there may be enough evidence for a conviction.
Defense Attorney Rick Beam had asked the judge to consider his client’s mental health issues at the time and give his client a minimum sentence of 12 years in prison.
District Attorney Locke Bell did not request a particular sentence, but did ask the judge to treat the deaths of Katelyn Self and Amanda George Self separately in sentencing. Superior Court Judge Athena Brooks sentenced Roger Self in both second-degree murder cases, ordering him to serve those sentences consecutively. The maximum sentence in the two cases is 48 years.
Investigators said Self was having lunch with his family when he got up, went to his car and drove it into the building. Katelyn Self and Amanda George Self were killed as they sat in the Bessemer City restaurant on May 20, 2018. Amanda Self’s husband, Josh, and Roger Self’s wife, Diane, were injured in the crash. The daughter of Amanda and Josh Self also was injured.
