Shooting victim Deon Tucker is a man of few words.
Reporters anxious to hear a firsthand account of the Good Friday killing spree that left three dead and two wounded clamored around Tucker, then 44 years old, during a news conference at North Peoria Church of Christ in the days following the slayings.
Tucker and another man, 46-year-old David Hall, were on Tucker's front porch in the 1300 block of East 51st Place North when two men reportedly pulled up, asked for directions and opened fire on them around 1 a.m. April 6.
Hall suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach. Tucker was shot in the shoulder.
Days later, Tucker, left arm clad in a sling, sat surrounded by journalists.
He spoke briefly, succinctly.
"Just move on."
Tucker spent the better part of a year rehabilitating his shoulder with physical therapy. He and Hall talk on a daily basis, he said in an interview this week.
For all intents and purposes, nothing much has changed.
"Everything's really been the same," Tucker said - referring to his life, race relations and police-community relations in north Tulsa.
He said he hasn't followed the criminal case.
Jacob Carl "Jake" England, 20, and Alvin Lee Watts, 33, were charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with intent to kill and five counts of malicious intimidation or harassment on account of race - also known as hate crimes. Prosecutors announced in January that they will seek the death penalty for both men.
"I don't really care for the death penalty. ... I don't want them to get it," Tucker said. "That's the easy way out. I'd rather they sit in the penitentiary for the rest of their lives."
Dispatchers received an emergency call seeking aid for Tucker and Hall three minutes after Dannaer "Donna" Fields, 49, was found fatally shot three blocks away.
Within the hour, 54-year-old Bobby Clark was slain in the 300 block of West 63rd Street North. A second man - William Allen, 31 - would be found dead in front of Jack's Memory Chapel, 801 E. 36th Street North, at 8:30 a.m.
Clark was known as "Guitar Bobby" at the Caring Center operated by Tulsa's First Baptist Church. He was a familiar face to its visitors, who would gather around to hear him play.
Family described Fields as optimistic and sweet with a contagious laugh. She was a fan of church choirs and dominoes.
William Allen earned the nickname "Sip" when he moved to Tulsa from Hattiesburg, Miss., four years before his death. A father to a teen daughter, Allen hoped to study business administration and encouraged his mother to pursue her dreams.
England and Watts are scheduled to appear for a motions hearing April 23.
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413
amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com
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