4 women shot to death at Tulsa apartment complex

BY KENDRICK MARSHALL & JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
1/10/13 at 3:26 PM

Correction
A list of multiple killings accompanying this story originally contained an error concerning when a case against a juvenile offender involved in a 1998 triple-homicide was dismissed. The story has been corrected.

Tulsa police were conducting an "exhaustive search" to "determine the motive and develop suspects" in the slayings of four women who were found shot to death in a Tulsa apartment Monday afternoon, Sgt. Dave Walker said late Monday.

The women were pronounced dead at an apartment in the Fairmont Terrace complex in the 1100 block of East 60th Street.

Police also found a 4-year-old boy in the apartment. The child did not appear to have any physical injuries and was taken into protective custody, police said.

Emergency officials were called to the scene about 12:35 p.m. after someone went to the apartment to check on the residents and found the bodies inside.

Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said he could not say whether the women knew each other or were related. They were in their late teens to early 20s, police said.

Walker reported shortly before 9 p.m. Monday that all four women had been identified. However, he did not release their names to the media.

Police said they think someone was in contact with at least one of the victims in the hour before the deaths were discovered, which indicates the deaths occurred within that short window of time, Ashley said.

No one had called the police to report hearing shots in the area before the bodies were found, he said.

Ashley said the magnitude of the crime itself and the fact that a child was at the scene make the homicides concerning.

"It's not every day you see something like this in the city of Tulsa," he said. "It's very tragic for one life to be lost, but to have four lost in the same day at the same scene - it's very gut-wrenching."

Larry Powell, who identified himself as the father of one of the victims, had a difficult time coming to grips with news of her death.

"I can't believe it," Powell said. "I just talked to her two days ago."

Tulsa County land records list the apartment complex, which accepts tenants using federal "Section 8" housing assistance, as being owned since 2005 by two limited liability corporations.

DK Ukiah Properties LLC and 1574 Pacific LLC were both registered as companies in Oklahoma in 2005, shortly before purchasing the property from another company. A 2006 agreement filed with the Tulsa County Clerk's Office indicates that the owners each held half of the property.

Constance Reynolds of Alameda, Calif., is listed as the sole member and manager of 1574 Pacific LLC, while Doug Solis of Mendocino County, Calif., is listed as managing member of DK Ukiah Properties LLC.

The apartment complex was the scene of two slayings last year.

Quincy D. Jones, 24, was fatally shot inside a unit on Aug. 25.

On Sept. 27, Robert Max Long was shot to death during an apparent drug-related robbery.

"This is the worst it has been," complex resident Victor Vasilio said of the surge in violence within the complex within the last half year. "I've never had any problems with anyone. I try to keep to myself."

Vasilio, who said his son is a playmate of the 4-year-old boy who was with the bodies, believes the complex is safe despite the several high-profile crimes on its grounds.

Alex Guess, a Fairmont Terrace resident for less than year, said she's observed an increase in security and police presence in response to various incidents there.

Resident Tyler Spaulding explained that tenants and visitors are required to present identification before entering through security gates.

Other residents, including Gail Barton, a friend of the victims, described now being scared because of the killings and random violence at the complex.

"How could someone hurt all of them like that?" Barton asked with tears in her eyes.

"They will never be able to justify this."

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS or visit tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers Tips may be submitted anonymously, and tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.

The deaths bring the Tulsa homicide total for 2013 to six.

Name	Age	Date of death	Address
1. Kenneth Daniels	17	5/17/2010	1100 block East 61st St.
2. Chelsea Bartmier	20	6/22/2010	1100 block East 61st St.
3. Randy Pickrell	39	12/28/2010	1400 block East 62nd St.
4. Marvin Dion Alexander*	31	3/16/2011	1100 block East 60th St.
5. Ahmad Thompson	27	3/18/2011	1000 block East 64th Pl.
6. Vernon Benson	31	5/31/2011	1000 block East 64th Pl.
7. Demont Payne*	21	12/6/2011	1000 block East 60th St.
8. Victoria Turcios	43	12/14/2011	1200 block East 63rd St.
9. Matthew Boddy	26	3/22/2012	1100 block East 61st St.
10. Quincy Darrell Jones*	24	8/25/2012	1100 block East 60th St.
11. Shametra Fields	25	9/11/2012	1200 block East 63rd St.
12. Robert Max Long*	19	9/27/2012	1100 block East 60th St.

Multiple killings

In at least 11 cases since 1990, three or more people have been killed at one time in Tulsa. Most of the victims were shot in domestic disturbances. Two cases involved robberies, and one was motivated by racial hatred, according to prosecutors.

April 6, 2012: Three dead. Three people were killed and two were injured in what became known as the "Good Friday shootings." Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31, were shot and killed, and their bodies were found in separate north Tulsa locations. Prosecutors have labeled the shootings hate crimes based on race and have said they intend to seek the death penalty against Jacob England, 20, and Alvin Watts, 33, in the homicides.

Oct. 7, 2010: Three dead. Three people were found shot to death at the Days Inn motel at 35 N. Sheridan Road. Joey Mike, 23, Jermiko Thomas, 19, and Toni Ruff, 20, were killed. Dale Curtis Carr, 21, pleaded no contest to three counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a firearm on allegations he took marijuana and a cell phone from Mike. Carr was sentenced to life without parole.

July 28, 2003: Three dead. Karen Chappel, 42, and her sons Whitney Chappel, 17, and Kalin Chappel, 14, were shot and stabbed at their home at 1930 N. Madison Ave. Lorenzo Crawford Brown pleaded guilty in their deaths that year and committed suicide in prison in 2007 at the age of 21.

Feb. 22, 2003: Three dead. James "Jimmy" Kidwell killed Fred Barney, 50, and Barney's ex-wife, Rebecca Barney, 42, in their home in the 500 block of South Yorktown Avenue and then killed bystander Kenneth Maxwell, 24, outside the home after Maxwell called 911. Kidwell received three life-without-parole prison sentences.

Feb. 12, 1999: Six dead. A domestic situation led to the deaths of six people in an apartment in the 1900 block of North Gary Avenue. Markita King, 22; her children, Ebonie, 4, Essynce, 2, and Marjonna, 8 months; the children's father, Edwin Bell, 23, of Oklahoma City; and his mother, Linda Farris, 45, of Oklahoma City, were shot to death. King had separated from Bell and moved from Oklahoma City to Tulsa three months before he brought his mother to Tulsa to pick up his children for a visit. Instead of taking them home with him, he killed them all and shot himself.

Aug. 7, 1998: Three dead. Emmett Smith, 57, was killed in his home in the 500 block of North 37th West Avenue, while Alva Ray Shanks Jr., 43, and Carolyn Shanks, 39, were killed in their Tulsa County home near Glenpool. Smith's wife, Jackie Anita Smith, 54, also was shot but survived. The Shanks' 15-year-old son, Dylan Ray Shanks, was convicted of murdering his parents and Emmett Smith and was sentenced to three no-parole life terms in prison plus a 20-year sentence for wounding Jackie Smith. His then-girlfriend, Christina L. Fuller, 14 at the time, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the murder of Smith, her step-grandfather. She completed the Youthful Offender program, and the case against her was dismissed in 2003. Co-defendants Bryon Lee Johnson and Shanna Dempster pleaded no contest to being accessories to the murder of Smith, Johnson's grandfather. Johnson and Dempster received prison terms of 20 and 15 years, respectively. Dempster has been released from prison. Fuller's sister, Keri Fuller, 13 at the time of the slayings, was found delinquent in juvenile court on an accessory charge. She has since been released from juvenile custody.

Oct. 17, 1997: Three dead. Ronald Dunaway Fluke, 48, confessed to killing his wife, Ginger Fluke, 44, and their two daughters, Susanne Fluke, 13, and Kathryn Fluke, 11, in their home in the 8600 block of South 69th East Avenue. He was executed by the state on March 27, 2001.

June 4, 1994: Four dead. Anita Richardson, 39; her son, Martise Richardson, 13; and her daughter, Tina Pennington, 22, were shot to death in their home in the 2500 block of South 121st East Avenue. Yvonne Stevenson, 47, was shot at her apartment in the 8100 block of East 12th Street. Stevenson's brother and Anita Richardson's former common-law husband, Kenneth Eugene Turrentine, confessed to the killings. Turrentine was executed in 2005.

Aug. 17, 1992: Four dead. Four employees of Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken - Sendy Lara, 26; Joseph Gooch, 17; Theodore "Ted" Kindley, 19; and Stephen Lee Williams, 24 - were fatally shot during a robbery at the restaurant. Corey Hamilton, who was the triggerman, was executed in January 2007. His brother, William Hamilton, along with former Lee's employee Donnie Eugene Daniels and his cousin Tyrone Lamont Johnson, were sentenced to life in prison.

Oct. 23, 1990: Four dead. Robert Lee Asberry, 39, turned a shotgun on himself after killing his former girlfriend Brenda Joyce Parks, 31, as well as Columbus D. Dumas, 38, and Cheryl Ann Butler, 28. Asberry was previously convicted of a 1975 slaying but had been released.

Oct. 14, 1990: Four dead. Tyrrell Lee Boyd, 27; Steve Allen Smith, 34; Timothy Edward Sheets, 37; and Carol Ann McDaniels, 41, were shot during a robbery at the Ferndale Lounge in Tulsa. Jerry McCracken was given four death sentences and was executed in 2002. His accomplice, David Lawrence, received four life sentences.

World News Researcher Hilary Pittman and World Staff Writers Casey Smith and Curtis Killman compiled this information.

World Enterprise Editor Ziva Branstetter contributed to this story.

Original Print Headline: 4 women shot to death

Kendrick Marshall 918-581-8386
kendrick.marshall@tulsaworld.com Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

The scene of a quadruple homicide at the Fairmont Terrace apartments is cordoned off with police tape as officers investigate the slayings Monday afternoon. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World

Police Officer Leland Ashley briefs reporters after a quadruple homicide at Tulsa's Fairmont Terrace apartment complex on Monday. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World

A Tulsa police chaplain talks to a man as police investigate four homicides at the Fairmont Terrace apartments. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World

Detective Margaret Loveall collects evidence bags after a quadruple homicide at Tulsa's Fairmont Terrace apartment complex on Monday. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World

Tulsa police investigate four homicides at the Fairmont Terrace complex on Monday. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World