The father of a 19-month-old girl who drowned in a koi pond in Sand Springs last year wants a grand jury to investigate her death.
Gary Schooley filed a petition Friday in Tulsa County District Court to impanel a grand jury. The court documents are independent of the petition to impanel a grand jury filed in July by J.B. Alexander of Owasso, said Carlene Voss, who heads the Civil Division in the Court Clerk's Office.
Schooley is seeking a grand jury probe into the March 27, 2012, drowning of Gracie Schooley.
On that day, Gracie was staying at Nita Teague's house in the 1300 block of North Northridge Court when Teague, listed in the petition as Gary Schooley's aunt, "failed to provide proper supervision of Gracie by not monitoring her properly," the petition claims.
Teague found the unresponsive toddler in a small pond in the front yard, and the child was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Gracie's cause of death is listed as drowning, and the manner of death is labeled an accident, a spokeswoman with the state Medical Examiner's Office said.
Tulsa County prosecutors declined to file any charges in the case.
Gary Schooley asks that a grand jury look into charges and return an indictment against Teague not limited to child neglect, second-degree murder or second-degree manslaughter.
The petitioner also is requesting that the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office be disqualified as acting as a legal adviser to the grand jury because of a "conflict of interest."
The grand jury's inquiry into Gracie's death would include testimony from some witnesses who might be former or current employees of the District Attorney's Office, and the investigation "may necessarily involve" a probe into that office, the petition claims.
This marks the second attempt to convene a grand jury in Tulsa County this year. Because of that, the number of registered voter signatures required to convene the panel will be doubled, Voss said. If a judge deems the petition sufficient, organizers will have 45 days to collect the signatures.
A total of 5,000 signatures were required for Alexander's petition, which asks for a probe into Owasso city government. Those signatures - more than 9,600 were submitted - are scheduled to be verified this week.
Gary Schooley and Tiffany Nicole Martin, Gracie's biological parents, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Teague in August 2012. That case was settled March 6, records show.
Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Man seeks grand jury probe into daughter's death
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