Weleetka killings of two girls

Overview: On June 8, 2008, Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Whitaker, 11, were shot multiple times along a rural Okfuskee County road near Weleetka, just yards from the Placker home.

More than three years later, authorities have charged a man with the killings.

Kevin Sweat, 25, of Henryetta was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Dec. 9, 2011. Sweat had been in custody since Aug. 3, when he was arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend, 23-year-old Ashley Taylor.

This page provides continuing coverage of the case. Contact the reporter working on this story, Staff Writer Cary Aspinwall, at 918-581-8477 or cary.aspinwall@tulsaworld.com.

Headlines

Judge rules Kevin Sweat must face trial in Weleetka deaths 1/30/2013

A man who is already scheduled for trial in the death of his girlfriend must also face trial in the shooting deaths of two Weleetka girls on an Okfuskee County road, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge orders man to trial in Weleetka girls' deaths 1/29/2013

An Okfuskee County judge ordered a man accused of killing two Weleetka girls bound over for trial today following two days of testimony that included the man’s videotaped confession to killing “two monsters.”

Preliminary hearing begins in Weleetka girls' killings 1/29/2013

Prosecutors traced the path of the Glock gun used to kill Skyla Whitaker and Taylor Paschal-Placker from its forging in Austria to a rural Okfuskee County road, where they say Kevin Sweat used it to kill two girls 4 1/2 years ago.

Man charged in Weleetka girls' deaths to have preliminary hearing Monday 1/27/2013

Accused killer Kevin Joe Sweat will face a preliminary hearing in Okfuskee County District Court on Monday on charges that he gunned down Weleetka girls Skyla Whitaker and Taylor Paschal-Placker in 2008.

Weleetka murder case change of venue sought 12/8/2012

Attorneys for a man accused of gunning down two young girls near Weleetka and slaying his former girlfriend have filed a motion asking that his trial be moved outside Okfuskee County.

Suspect in Weleetka killings is arraigned in former girlfriend's slaying 8/23/2012

An Okmulgee man who is accused of killing two Weleetka girls in 2008 was formally arraigned Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge related to the death of his former girlfriend last summer.

Heat wave: 1,000+ weather records fall in U.S. in a week 6/27/2012

Hundreds of heat-related records recently have fallen across the United States.

Suspect charged in 2008 slaying of two Weleetka girls 12/10/2011

More than three years after two girls were shot multiple times along a rural Okfuskee County road, authorities charged a man Friday with the killings.

Weleetka remembers two young girls killed 4 years ago today 6/8/2012

At Graham Schools, an independent school district several miles from town, students used to go straight to their lockers and then to class in the mornings.

Arraignment set for Oklahoma man charged in 3 deaths 6/5/2012

An Oklahoma man accused in the killing of two girls in 2008 is scheduled to be formally arraigned on a first-degree murder count stemming from the July death of his girlfriend.

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Timeline

June 8, 2008
On a Sunday afternoon, Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Whitaker, 11, are gunned down along Country Line Road northeast of Weleetka, a short distance from Paschal-Placker's home.

June 13, 2008
More than 500 members of the Weleetka community attend a memorial as authorities scramble to find a suspect without an eyewitness or many clues.

Aug. 8, 2008
Authorities release details of the autopsy report, which showed both girls were shot in their legs, torso, neck and at the base of their skulls with a total of 13 shots.

September 2008
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation officials reduce investigators from more than a dozen to four on the case as leads decrease significantly.

July 2009
The reward is raised to $160,000 for information leading to a break in the case after nearly a year of investigating.

June 2010
Authorities and the girls' family members beg the public for help in solving the 2-year-old slayings.

June 2011
Three years after slayings, officials announce they have no suspects.

July 15, 2011
Family members of 23-year-old Ashley Taylor see her for the last time.

July 17, 2011
Taylor tells her family that she and Kevin J. Sweat, 25, are going to Louisiana to get married.

July 29, 2011
Taylor is reported missing.

July 30, 2011
Sweat tells police that he got into an argument with Taylor on U.S. 75 but left her alive and well on the side of the road.

Aug. 1, 2011
Sweat tells police he wasn't telling the truth during the first interview. He told police he "caused Ashley's death."

Aug. 3
Sweat is arrested and held in Seminole County jail without bond.

Aug. 9, 2011
Authorities find human remains near where Sweat told police to look.

Aug. 12, 2011
Sweat is charged with first-degree murder in Taylor's death.

Oct. 1, 2011
OSBI announces that the gun used to slay the Weleetka girls may have been sold at a Tulsa gun show in March.

Nov. 11, 2011
Taylor's family tells the media that they told OSBI of comments Sweat made about the Weleetka killings.

Dec. 9, 2011
OSBI announces charges against Sweat in the 2008 slayings of the Weleetka girls.

Jan. 28, 2013
Preliminary hearing in Okfuskee County District Court for Sweat, who is charged with first-degree murder.