Cedric Poore (right) and his brother James Poore (left) are escorted by Tulsa County deputies into a courtroom at the Tulsa County Courthouse for their preliminary hearing on Tuesday. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World
A witness who testified in the slayings of four women said the two defendants were present before and after the crime, but she gave conflicting testimony later during a hearing Tuesday.
During questioning by prosecutors in Tulsa County District Court, Shalee Owens identified brothers James Poore and Cedric Poore as the men she saw in a Fairmont Terrace apartment before and after the Jan. 7 killings. Owens had been staying at the apartment, near 61st Street and Peoria Avenue, with a friend who lived there. That friend, Jamila Jones, was James Poore's girlfriend.
Owens told First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond that after the men left, "I prayed because of what just happened - four girls was murdered."
When Drummond asked Owens how she knew that had occurred, she said: "It was pretty much self-explained. I put my puzzle together."
The Poore brothers are each charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Killed were Julie Jackson, 55; Misty Nunley, 33; Rebeika Powell, 23; and Kayetie Powell Melchor, 23. Powell and Melchor, who were sisters, lived in the apartment with Nunley, and Jackson had stopped by to check on them.
Owens said one of the women had accused Jones of theft, which made Jones mad. She said that shortly before leaving the apartment with another man, James Poore told Jones, "Baby, don't worry about it. I got it."
During cross-examination by defense attorney Kirsten Bernhardt, Owens said she was in another room of the apartment and couldn't see the face of the man she identified as Cedric Poore.
ACCUSED
Cedric Poore (left) and James Poore: They are accused of robbing and killing four women at the Fairmont Terrace Apartments.
Bernhardt asked Owens if she told police she "wouldn't know Cedric from a rabbit out of a hat." Owens acknowledged having said that and said she didn't know his name until hearing news reports.
Later, she testified that she was using marijuana, PCP and Xanax when she met Cedric Poore at the apartment several days earlier.
Owens, 21, also denied during her testimony that she heard James Poore say he planned to rob the women. Drummond pointed to records from her grand jury testimony in which she said James Poore did make such statements.
Several other witnesses have testified previously that James Poore said he planned to "pull a lick" at the apartment to steal drugs and money. Cedric Poore's wife and daughter have previously testified that James Poore confessed to shooting the women.
Tuesday was the fifth day of testimony in the preliminary hearing for James Poore, 32, and Cedric Poore, 39.
The day was frustrating for attorneys and for Special Judge Stephen Clark, who said the hearing was moving too slowly and urged both sides to pick up the pace. The hearing was continued from July, when four prosecution witnesses testified during three days.
So far, only Owens and Jones - who lived with James Poore in the apartment downstairs from the unit where the women were killed - have testified this week.
District Attorney Tim Harris has not announced whether he will seek the death penalty.
In other testimony Tuesday, defense attorneys continued to point out inconsistencies in statements by Jones.
She testified Monday that James Poore said he shot one woman "and bro finished the other three" during a robbery. Jones, 21, has testified that the brothers returned to her apartment and divided up drugs, money and jewelry stolen during the robbery.
Jones also testified that she had seen Cedric Poore with a gun tucked in his waist band.
Defense attorney John Echols asked her why she failed to mention a gun in earlier statements to police and why others in the apartment that day say they did not see a gun. Jones said she didn't know.
Echols also asked Jones whether she had used marijuana in the past 30 days, and Jones replied yes. After a recess with her attorney, an assistant public defender, Jones invoked her constitutional right against self-incrimination on additional questions about her drug use.
Echols has repeatedly pointed to an immunity agreement Jones has with prosecutors in return for testifying truthfully.
Owens has no such agreement and testified that she has been jailed twice as a material witness in this case. She said she was held for four days and again for 31 days after she failed to appear for a hearing in the case.
The preliminary hearing continues Wednesday.
Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306
ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Witness's homicides testimony scrutinized
