Man suspected in slaying was out on bond
Victim had received protective order against suspect
An Oklahoma City man is suspected of killing his exgirlfriend and dumping her body after a judge reduced his bond on a charge of assaulting her.
In the criminal charge filed in July, prosecutors allege Derrick Jerome Brown kicked in the door of his ex-girlfriend's apartment, cut her multiple times with a razor and tried to strangle her.
Brown, 32, was ar r est ed Wednesday in Oklahoma City on a murder complaint after investigators found the body of the ex- girlfriend Tawny King ,35, inside an empty house in Stringtown in southeastern Oklahoma. Brown is being held without bail in the Oklahoma County jail.
The judge Friday defended his decision to reduce the bond.
Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott said a prosecutor did not argue the facts of the case or tell him about Brown's extensive criminal background before he reduced the amount from $ 150,000 to $ 75,000 at a hearing last month.
“I wasn't given all of the information,” Elliott told The Oklahoman. “I specifically asked at the hearing `what's his background?' I was told it was white-collar (crime).”
Brown has previous convictions for crimes that include obtaining money or property by false pretenses, conspiracy to commit a felony and embezzlement, court records show. He pleaded guilty in one case and received a 20-year suspended sentence.
The judge required Brown to wear an ankle monitor upon his release from jail and told
the defendant to stay away from King.
Elliott said the $75,000 bond amount was appropriate given t he charges against Brown.
“This is not a case where bond is deniable,” he said. “Had I known then what I know now, perhaps it would have been different.”
King filled out a petition for a protective order the same day that Brown is accused of kicking in her door.
“He has been stalking me, sending me threatening texts,” she wrote in the petition. “I'm terrified 4 my life.”
An emergency protective order was granted and continued by another judge, records show.