The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office announced this afternoon Kenneth John Prince, was found guilty of Strangulation Constituting Domestic Violence and Assault in the Fourth Degree Constituting Domestic Violence after a jury trial on February 1, 2023.
At sentencing this morning, Mr. Prince was sentenced to two and a half years in the Oregon Department of Corrections.
The charges arose from an incident that occurred in the parking lot of Lowe’s in Medford on July 17, 2018. At around 4:00am, law enforcement responded to Providence Medical Center to contact Vickie Vehrs, who wished to report being the victim of a domestic assault that had occurred earlier that morning. Ms. Vehrs had been dating Mr. Prince for approximately three weeks and had been allowing him to stay with her in her van. Prior to the incident, Ms. Vehrs and Mr. Prince had parked her van in the Crater Lake Plaza Lowe’s parking lot to stay for the night. Mr. Prince had been drinking and became angry when he spilled food on himself. Ms. Vehrs decided to go in the van to go to bed.
Eventually, Mr. Prince came in and tried to get her to have sex with him. When Ms. Vehrs refused, Mr. Prince became angry at her and started to argue with her. Ms. Vehrs told him to get his stuff from the van and leave, but Mr. Prince refused. Mr. Prince then struck her in the head with his palm, causing a lump on Ms. Vehrs forehead to form and that was beginning to bruise when law enforcement contacted her. Ms. Vehrs continued to try to get Mr. Prince to leave. The incident then escalated further. Mr. Prince grabbed her by the throat and choke-slammed her into the van; strangling her. Ms. Vehrs was able to fight him off by digging her nails into his left side.
The two started to argue again before Mr. Prince pinned Ms. Vehrs down by her throat and was strangling her once again. Ms. Vehrs eventually fought him off again and was able to get him out of the van, lock the doors, and flee the area. Ms. Vehrs then transported herself to Providence Medical Center and reported the incident to staff at the hospital, who then notified law enforcement.
This prosecution was handled by Deputy District Attorney Patrick P. Green.
Source: JCDA
