|
|
|
A Konawa man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend during an altercation near Sacred Heart church now faces a formal charge of first-degree murder.
Richard Lee Brazell, 32, was charged Thursday in Pottawatomie County District Court. He is accused of “deliberately, intentionally and with malice aforethought,” effecting the death of William Jeffery Rutherford, 34, by shooting him in the chest with a .22 caliber rifle on July 15, charges show.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer said the sheriff’s office received a call about 9:31 p.m. that night about a shooting west of Sacred Heart Church, located about nine miles east of Asher in southern Pottawatomie County. He said the shooting appeared to stem from a verbal altercation involving Rutherford’s ex-girlfriend, who was dating Brazell.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Investigator Mike Carnell probed the shooting that night; Brazell was arrested shortly after the incidents occurred.
Palmer said Rutherford allegedly began flashing headlights at Brazell’s vehicle and Brazell pulled off the road, where a verbal confrontation escalated.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, Rutherford and a friend were in a pickup that pulled alongside Amie Barker’s vehicle driven by Brazell on EW 139. Barker got out of her vehicle and approached the truck, driven by Shelby Gattenby, as the passenger, Rutherford, was her ex-boyfriend, the document shows.
Rutherford got out of the passenger side of the truck and started toward Barker’s vehicle, where Brazell was sitting in the driver’s seat. The document shows Rutherford approached the driver’s door trying to get at Brazell when Barker got between them and tried to push Rutherford back. According to Barker, Rutherford got hold of the door handle but never got the door open as she tried to push him away, the affidavit shows. As this occurred, the affidavit claims Brazell, who was still sitting in the vehicle, “pulled out a .22 Marlin rifle and fired one round into the left side of victim Rutherford.”
Detective Carnell, who questioned those involved, wrote in the affidavit that Brazell said Rutherford was pushing Barker around the outside of the vehicle and “was making threats and yelling.”
Immediately after the shooting, the affidavit shows Gattenby grabbed the barrel of the rifle and Brazell came out of the vehicle while still holding the rifle.
“The two of them struggled over the gun when Brazell pulled the trigger until the gun was empty and Gattenby got possession of the rifle,” it reads. Brazell and Barker got in their vehicle and drove home, where they called police about the incident.
Sheriff’s deputies and Konawa EMS responded to the area and paramedics transported Rutherford to Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada, Palmer said, where he was dead upon arrival.
“Suspect Brazell admitted that he shot Rutherford, unarmed man, who was not in possession of any weapons at any time during the confrontation,” the affidavit reads.
Brazell remains jailed without bond at the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center in Shawnee; his next court date isn’t yet scheduled on court filings.
A conviction of first-degree murder can be punishable by death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without parole, court records show.
A Konawa man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend during an altercation near Sacred Heart church now faces a formal charge of first-degree murder.
Richard Lee Brazell, 32, was charged Thursday in Pottawatomie County District Court. He is accused of “deliberately, intentionally and with malice aforethought,” effecting the death of William Jeffery Rutherford, 34, by shooting him in the chest with a .22 caliber rifle on July 15, charges show.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer said the sheriff’s office received a call about 9:31 p.m. that night about a shooting west of Sacred Heart Church, located about nine miles east of Asher in southern Pottawatomie County. He said the shooting appeared to stem from a verbal altercation involving Rutherford’s ex-girlfriend, who was dating Brazell.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Investigator Mike Carnell probed the shooting that night; Brazell was arrested shortly after the incidents occurred.
Palmer said Rutherford allegedly began flashing headlights at Brazell’s vehicle and Brazell pulled off the road, where a verbal confrontation escalated.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, Rutherford and a friend were in a pickup that pulled alongside Amie Barker’s vehicle driven by Brazell on EW 139. Barker got out of her vehicle and approached the truck, driven by Shelby Gattenby, as the passenger, Rutherford, was her ex-boyfriend, the document shows.
Rutherford got out of the passenger side of the truck and started toward Barker’s vehicle, where Brazell was sitting in the driver’s seat. The document shows Rutherford approached the driver’s door trying to get at Brazell when Barker got between them and tried to push Rutherford back. According to Barker, Rutherford got hold of the door handle but never got the door open as she tried to push him away, the affidavit shows. As this occurred, the affidavit claims Brazell, who was still sitting in the vehicle, “pulled out a .22 Marlin rifle and fired one round into the left side of victim Rutherford.”
Detective Carnell, who questioned those involved, wrote in the affidavit that Brazell said Rutherford was pushing Barker around the outside of the vehicle and “was making threats and yelling.”
Immediately after the shooting, the affidavit shows Gattenby grabbed the barrel of the rifle and Brazell came out of the vehicle while still holding the rifle.
“The two of them struggled over the gun when Brazell pulled the trigger until the gun was empty and Gattenby got possession of the rifle,” it reads. Brazell and Barker got in their vehicle and drove home, where they called police about the incident.
Sheriff’s deputies and Konawa EMS responded to the area and paramedics transported Rutherford to Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada, Palmer said, where he was dead upon arrival.
“Suspect Brazell admitted that he shot Rutherford, unarmed man, who was not in possession of any weapons at any time during the confrontation,” the affidavit reads.
Brazell remains jailed without bond at the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center in Shawnee; his next court date isn’t yet scheduled on court filings.
A conviction of first-degree murder can be punishable by death, imprisonment for life or imprisonment for life without parole, court records show.
