2 plead guilty to aiding OU student’s slaying
NORMAN — Two people pleaded guilty Wednesday in the April shooting death of a University of Oklahoma student.
Cody Eli Turbeville, 17, pleaded guilty to accessory to first-degree murder and Armani Ashanti Morgan, 20, pleaded guilty to planning a violent act and firearm possession. Both were sentenced in Cleveland County District Court to 10 years in prison, records show.
They were arrested along with Tyrek Ladarius Turner, 20, and James Arion Smith, 18, in the April 23 death of Nathaniel Ewing, 20, who was shot and killed at 1852 E Lindsey Street in Norman.
According to a court affidavit, a friend of Ewing had contacted one of the suspects on Snapchat about selling marijuana. They agreed to meet at the Willow Brook apartment complex, near Lindsey Street and 24th Avenue SE.
Investigators said that Ewing and his friend had never met the four people before. When they met in the parking lot of the complex, a struggle broke out and Ewing was shot in the stomach. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Turbeville told police that he drove the vehicle to meet Ewing and that he knew one of the passengers had a gun. He said he stayed in the vehicle as two passengers got out to meet Ewing and that he knew “something bad was about to happen.” Shortly after, the two passengers got back in the vehicle and one said they had shot someone, according to an affidavit.
Morgan told investigators that some of his friends “were going to rob someone of their weed,” and that he provided Turner with a handgun “for his protection.” He said Turner and other passengers in the vehicle left to commit the robbery and returned, with Turner saying “the robbery went bad,” according to an affidavit.
Smith and Turner are charged with first-degree murder. Their cases are pending.