State briefs
SCHOOL STAFFER ACCUSED OF RELATIONSHIP WITH STUDENT
GUTHRIE
A Guthrie High School staff member was arrested Friday, accused of having a sexual relationship with a student, according to police.
Byron Jay McDonald had sexual relations with a female student, a police report states. McDonald was in custody at the Logan County jail Friday. He was held on several rape complaints.
McDonald was a support staff member who worked with students through an in-school suspension program and also worked as an assistant boys basketball coach, according to Guthrie Public Schools. He was hired Aug. 14 after a background check, the district reported.
In an emailed statement, Superintendent Mike Simpson said school administrators were notified of the relationship late Thursday and contacted authorities immediately. McDonald was fired Friday.
CUCUMBERS RECALLED
State health officials Friday announced a nationwide foodborne outbreak of Salmonella Poona includes Oklahoma. Officials say the cause of the outbreak are garden-variety cucumbers distributed by Andrew & Williamson of San Diego. As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 285 cases in 27 states linked to this outbreak. Seven cases have been identified in Oklahoma. Garden-variety cucumbers are the most common variety found in the grocery store; they are plump, smooth, dark green skinned, 7-10 inches long, and are usually waxed. These contaminated products were distributed to grocery stores and restaurants throughout the United States. For the list of establishments that purchase cucumbers from Andrew & Williamson, go to http://okne.ws/1OjjfvT. This list may be updated in the future.
NORMAN
POLICE IDENTIFY WOMAN KILLED IN FIERY WRECK SUNDAY
The passenger in a fatal wreck in Norman has been identified by police. April Thomas, 41, of McLoud, died Tuesday from injuries she suffered in a wreck that happened on State Highway 9 near 156th Avenue SE, according to a police report. Thomas was a passenger in a car that collided with a pickup about 2 a.m. Sunday. Both vehicles caught fire, and witnesses pulled both drivers and Thomas from the vehicles, police said. A passenger in another wreck that day also died and his name was released Friday by Norman police. Jesus Nieto, 17, of Bethany, was pronounced dead at the scene Sunday after the pickup he was traveling in left the road near 180 Avenue SE and Blackberry Road and struck a tree. The driver was taken to the hospital and treated for injuries.
ADA
GRANT TO AID FOSTER GRANDPARENTS
A federal $1 million grant to the Chickasaw Nation will help fund a foster grandparent program earmarked for helping children to succeed in school. The grant through the Corporation for National and Community Service will support up to 75 foster grandparents for the Senior Corps Foster Grandparent Program, according to the tribe. The Foster Grandparent Program is an intergenerational program that provides a way for volunteers 55 and older to stay active and provide one-on-one mentoring, nurturing, and support to children with special or exceptional needs or who are at an academic, social or financial disadvantage.
OKLAHOMA CITY
SON, GIRLFRIEND FACE MURDER CHARGES IN FATHER’S KILLING
A man accused of shooting his father and an off-duty Sapulpa police lieutenant to death was charged Friday along with his girlfriend in the killings.
Jonathan Henry Grafton and Daphne Alyssa Mason, both 22, were charged in Oklahoma County District Court with two counts of first-degree murder. Sapulpa police Lt. Trey Pritchard, 46, and his cousin, Jeffrey Grafton, 46, also of Sapulpa, were found dead Aug. 15 inside a Midwest City motel room.
Mason told investigators her boyfriend shot his father and the police lieutenant, court documents show. She said they stole Jefferey Grafton’s truck and fled Sapulpa, ultimately renting a room at the Midwest City motel.
The victims used GPS to track down the truck and confronted the couple.
“Mason said Jeffrey and (Jonathan) got into a verbal/physical confrontation,” a court affidavit states. “Mason said during the confrontation, (Jonathan) got his gun out of the night stand and shot Jeffrey and Trey.”
Jeffrey Grafton’s pickup was found Aug. 16 in Oklahoma City. The couple were arrested Aug. 17 in Enid.
The couple also faces one count of methamphetamine possession.
DEL CITY
OKC MAN ARRESTED AFTER PREGNANT WIFE DIES IN CRASH
An Oklahoma City man has been arrested on a murder complaint after the death of his wife and unborn child.
Del City police allege Demetrius Stamps, 38, drove with his pregnant wife, Shartel Brown, 29, to meet two men and conduct a drug deal on Aug. 20.
Stamps tried to cheat the other men, Jimicko Carolina, and Rico Robinson, and took off in his car, said Del City police Maj. Jody Suit. Stamps crashed, killing Brown, who was about six months pregnant.
Suit said Carolina and Robinson chased after Stamps and assaulted him before fleeing. Carolina, 19, was arrested on drug possession complaints, and a woman named Lacresha Brown, 18, was arrested on an accessory complaint. Officers are still searching for Robinson, 22, of Bethany.
Stamps was in custody Friday at the Oklahoma County jail, held on one murder complaint and one conspiracy to distribute complaint.
BRISTOW
OFFICIALS ARREST TWO IN DOUBLE SLAYING AT MOTEL
Law officers have arrested two people they say were involved in a double slaying at a Bristow motel, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Antonio Rayfield Moore, 22, and Hanah Renee Jones, 22, were arrested in Tulsa on Thursday on murder complaints in the deaths of Ruth Ann Rex, 31, and Jake Allen Wright, 19, who were found dead March 29 at the Carolyn Inn, according to a new release.
Moore and Jones were in custody at the Creek County jail on Friday. The OSBI assisted the Bristow Police Department in the investigation.
Jeter died from injuries suffered in an August wreck. He was driving a tractor-trailer south on State Highway 78 about 3:40 p.m. Aug. 10. The rig left the road, overcorrected and hit a fence.
Ward was a passenger in a car northbound on State Highway 18 that collided with a pickup east of Cushing about 11 a.m. Friday, the patrol said.
James L. Alred, 45, of