DA Harris to seek the death penalty

The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty against Jacob Carl England and Alvin Lee Watts on three Counts of First-Degree Murder in an April 6, 2012, shooting spree that left three dead and two wounded at four locations in north Tulsa.

Three people – Bobby Clark, 54, Dannaer Fields, 49, and William Terrell Allen, 31 – died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.  Two others – Deon Lawayne Tucker, 44, and David Wayne Hall, 46, also were shot but survived.

“The defendants are presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present our evidence at future due process hearings,” said District Attorney Tim Harris.

In a filing in Tulsa District Court, Harris stated that the Defendants should be punished by death on each count of first-degree murder based on the following aggravating circumstances:

1. The defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person.

2. The existence of a probability that the defendant would commit criminal acts of violence that could constitute a continuing threat to society.

Under Oklahoma law, the potential punishment on each of the first-degree murder charges is life with parole, life without parole or the death penalty. The Shooting-with-intent-to-kill charges carry up to life in prison. Malicious harassment occurs when a person acts “maliciously and with the specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability.” The statute provides a maximum sentence of up to one year and a $1,000 fine.

“The filing of the Bill of Particulars, simply stated, allows the jury to consider all three punishments for first-degree murder under Oklahoma law if they find the defendant(s) guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, Harris said. “The jury decides what punishment fits the crime, based upon the facts and the evidence,” he said.