Shooter convicted of 2nd-degree murder
Jurors Friday chose to sentence a convicted felon to 32 years in prison after finding him guilty of fatally shooting a man in line outside a Bricktown nightclub.
Christopher Calvin Benson, 30, of Oklahoma City, faced a first-degree murder charge in Oklahoma County District Court. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, instead.
If he had been found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury would have had to choose betweenBenson life in prison, with or without parole.
The jury agreed Benson wasn’t deliberately trying to kill anyone.
Police reported Benson was ejected from Club Social early March 1, 2014, and made threats toward bouncers before leaving. Club Social has since closed.
“‘I’m going to shoot you, and you, and you.’ His words to the bouncers,” Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Justin Kemp said in his closing argument. “He’s the only person making death
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Prosecutors claimed Benson returned to the nightclub and fired at least five rounds toward a crowd. While waiting in line, Zacharie Bowie, 30, of Spencer, was shot in the head and later died at a hospital.
“He was trying to kill those bouncers (but) Christopher Benson murdered Zacharie Bowie,” Kemp told the jury.
After being found guilty of second-degree murder, Benson pleaded guilty to a second count related to the case — possession of a firearm.
A judge will decide the punishment for that weapon offense in October.
Benson had been dancing at the club with his wife. He was kicked out because of low-sagging pants, according to testimony.
Christopher Benson turned himself in March 6, 2014.
Benson has been to prison before. He was incarcerated in 2008 on convictions of possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, records show. He was taken to Mercy of Tishomingo and later to Plano Regional Hospital in Texas, where he died Friday. Stillwater, was eastbound in the pickup on SH 33 and failed to yield when a car driven by Megan A. Hall, 36, of Oklahoma City, was turning west onto SH 33, a trooper said. Ward was taken to Hillcrest Hospital in Cushing, where he was pronounced dead.
Seat belts were in use by everyone involved.