Cecil Mains was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Jeri Mains.

A prison term after a guilty plea is the judgment on the count that was admitted. It is not a new charge. On Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, Law&Crime reported Cecil Mains was sentenced to 45 years in prison and five years of probation for the murder of Jeri Mains. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 26. The years are the sentence.

Law&Crime reported that on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, Cecil Mains, 47, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 45 years in prison and five years of probation for killing his wife, Jeri Mains, 44, in December 2025. The outlet, citing court records, reported he was ordered to have no contact with the couple's children for the length of the sentence. Court minutes quoted by Law&Crime say that after age 18, a protected person can petition the court to lift a no-contact order. Law&Crime reported he pleaded guilty to murder on Aug. 26. A sentence after a guilty plea is the judgment on that count.

WISH-TV reported that on Dec. 28, 2025, 44-year-old Jeri Mains died at a hospital after she was shot in the driveway of a home in the 8100 block of Meadow Bend Lane, on Indianapolis's southeast side. The station, citing charging documents, reported dispatchers got 911 calls from the children saying their father had shot their mother and fled in a gray Toyota Tundra. WISH-TV reported detectives were told Cecil Mains arrived earlier that day and took a gun from a safe, that a fight started when Jeri Mains got home, and that the two oldest children said they tried to intervene before he shot at her, striking her twice. The station reported the coroner found the cause of death was a gunshot that struck her heart, liver, and spine. Law&Crime, citing a probable-cause affidavit, reported the gun was a .380 and that the children were 19, 16, 14, and 10. WISH-TV reported he was taken into custody during a traffic stop on Five Points Road near Edgewood Avenue, that he asked for a lawyer, and that he did not speak with officers. Law&Crime reported the arrest came the day after the shooting. Those details are what police and charging papers recorded. They are the record behind the plea.

Law&Crime, citing court records and The Indianapolis Star, reported Jeri Mains filed for a protective order on Christmas Day, three days before the shooting, and that a judge could not sign it because the court offices were closed. Law&Crime reported the petition described her as a victim of domestic violence and alleged Cecil Mains assaulted her with kitchen tongs on Christmas Eve, causing a laceration and bruising. Law&Crime, citing The Indianapolis Star, reported the petition also described earlier fights, including one in which he allegedly punched her in the face and bloodied her nose, and threats against the children and pets. WISH-TV reported her brother told detectives she had described earlier physical abuse, that witnesses said she had made him move out after catching him cheating, and that he had threatened to kill her and the children. WISH-TV also reported a daughter told detectives her mother had a restraining order. Those are allegations in a petition and statements investigators recorded. Monday's term is the sentence on the murder count he admitted. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.