Arrest warrants issued in death of woman
Four people have been charged with dumping the body of a woman found in March near Nicoma Park.
The body of Alecia Payne, 26, was found March 31, the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office reported.
Arrest warrants were issued Friday for Michael Lee Brown, 40, of Midwest City; Jeremy Eugene Steelman, 39, of Warr Acres; Melissa Evans, 30, of Midwest City; and Shyann Nicole Lowery, 19, of Spencer, Oklahoma County District Court records show.
All four were charged the same day with unauthorized removal of a dead body, a felony.
Investigators said Payne had been staying in a room with Brown at the Super 8 Motel, 3852 S Prospect Ave., when she died. Her body was found in a ditch near NE 32 and Westminster. She was barefoot and wearing pajamas.
There is surveillance video of Payne’s body, wrapped in a blanket, being taken from the room to a vehicle, sheriff’s spokesman Mark Opgrande said.
Evans is being held on a prostitution complaint in the Tulsa County jail, Opgrande said. The other three have not been arrested.
Brown has
previous drug convictions in Oklahoma County. Steelman has been convicted of drug and stolen credit card possession, as well as crimes related to prostitution in Oklahoma County, court records show.
The state medical examiner’s office is working to determine cause of Payne’s death.