27-05-2025
Oklahoma death row: Could Stacy Drake be state's first death sentence in three years?
The death penalty is still being sought in Oklahoma but no one new has been sentenced to that punishment in the state in over three years.
It is the longest gap in more than 50 years in a state known for having the highest per capita execution rate in the country. Oklahoma last saw no new death sentences in a year in 2011, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
"That's consistent with a nationwide trend," said the Rev. Don Heath, chairman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
The latest request for the death penalty came Wednesday, May 21, in a triple murder case in Sequoyah County District Court.
Prosecutors gave notice that they will seek the punishment at trial for Stacy Lee Drake.
The 51-year-old drifter is suspected of being a serial killer responsible for two fatal shootings in Alabama and three in Oklahoma last year. He was caught on June 20, 2024, in a wooded area in Morrilton, Arkansas, after a manhunt.
The evidence against Drake includes his YouTube watch history showing that on June 8 he viewed video compilations of the "greatest" movie one-liners before and after killing scenes.
Prosecutors allege he killed a fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member in El Reno between June 9 and 14 and then killed two employees of a propane store outside of Sallisaw on June 18.
In the notice, District Attorney Jack Thorp listed four reasons for seeking the death penalty for the Oklahoma murders. The key claim is that Drake represents "a continuing threat to society." Jurors can vote for death only if they unanimously agree on at least one of the reasons.
The last time a death sentence was imposed in Oklahoma was on May 13, 2022. A judge sentenced David Ware, 37, to die for the fatal shooting of a Tulsa police officer during a traffic stop. Jurors agreed on that punishment in under three hours.
The lull in new death sentences comes at the same time Oklahoma is carrying out executions again. Sixteen convicted murderers have been executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester since lethal injections resumed in October 2021 after a long hiatus. The next execution is set for June 12.
The lull has been reported on before. "Oklahoma's death row is dwindling with each execution," the online news site Oklahoma Watch reported in December.
The death row population dropped to 29 after inmate Wendell Grissom was executed in March and inmate Richard Glossip won on appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
Nationwide, there were 26 new death sentences imposed in 2024, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2010, there were more than 100.
The nonprofit does not take a position on the death penalty but is critical of problems in its application. It reported Florida imposed the most new death sentences last year with seven. Texas imposed six.
Death sentences have dropped in Oklahoma in part because of last-minute plea deals, even in cases with multiple victims court records show.
Also, many murder cases are still taking longer to get to trial as prosecutors and defense attorneys continue to work to catch up from pandemic shutdowns. Defense attorneys who specialize in capital punishment cases report they are juggling three at the same time.
Last October, Jarron Deajon Pridgeon, 30, pleaded guilty days before trial to six counts of first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty. He fatally shot his brother and five children in Muskogee in 2021. Under his plea deal, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2023, Mario James Normore was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for going on a killing and robbery spree in Oklahoma City in 2017 that left four people dead. Prosecutors said the deal sparing him from the death penalty was made "to satisfy the desire of the families for a conclusion."
Oklahoma County's new district attorney, Vicki Behenna, has dropped death as a possible punishment in seven other murder cases that were pending when she took office two years ago.
In another death penalty case, she dismissed the double-murder charge all together, without alerting police first.
Some death penalty cases are several years old.
In one high-publicity case, Oklahoma City defense attorney Keegan Harroz and client Barry Roland Titus II are accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2019. They also are accused of murdering the ex-girlfriend's parents. Harroz, 41, and Titus, 43, became lovers after she began defending him in a domestic abuse case.
They were not even charged until 2021. Since then, the jury trial for Titus has been delayed twice. No new date has been set.
The most recent delay came in March when his attorneys accused the trial judge of bias. Their complaint about the judge is now before the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Harroz was to have had a separate trial. She now has a deal to testify against Titus in exchange for prosecutors dropping their death penalty request against her.
In Tulsa County, Derrick Wayne Stith, 31, is accused of beating his girlfriend to death with a hammer in 2017. Prosecutors made their request for the death penalty a year later. Up next in his case is a jury trial to determine if he is mentally competent for prosecution. It is set for September.
"This one's gone on forever," Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said. "It's gone through multiple defense attorneys. He's represented himself sometimes."
Other death penalty cases are pending across Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma County, prosecutors have decided to go ahead with the death penalty against Josh Christian Brown, 39, of Spencer. He is accused in his murder charge of killing his wife "by engaging in a continuous physical attack" over two days in 2020.
In Caddo County, a caretaker accused of willfully torturing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield to death still faces the maximum punishment. Alysia Adina Adams, 33, backed out of a plea deal in November that would have spared her from a death sentence.
In Cleveland County, Chace Cook, 21, is accused of raping and murdering a Moore High School senior at her home in 2023. Prosecutors gave notice in December 2023 they would seek the death penalty, saying the decision was not made lightly.
Also in Cleveland County, convicted murderer Paul Newberry, 44, is accused of killing another inmate at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington in 2023. His death penalty case has been delayed by questions about his competency.
He is serving life without the possibility of parole on a 2015 murder case.
In LeFlore County, Alex Nathaniel Davis, 34, of Poteau, is accused of torturing and murdering an Arkansas woman and dumping her body in a lake in 2021. Prosecutors sought the death penalty last year. His jury trial is set for September.
In Cherokee County, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Edwin Lewis, 64, of Stillwell. He is accused of killing two people in 2022 and then killing his girlfriend to cover it up.
The death penalty was sought in Pontotoc County District Court in March for the first time in more than 20 years. Richard Dewayne Chambers, 42, is accused of murdering three people in December.
"The defendant shot and killed Annie Brown in Midwest City," District Attorney Erik Johnson said in his notice. "The defendant then drove to Pontotoc County ... and shot and killed Robert Peliti and Jackie Peliti demonstrating a continuing threat to society."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lull in new death sentences in Oklahoma hits three years
