Former death row inmate resentenced to life without parole

A convicted murderer who paid $250 to have his pregnant wife killed, and later got off Oklahoma’s death row, has been resentenced to two life sentences without parole.

Fabion DeMargio Brown, now 31, was convicted at a 2014 trial of two counts of firstdegree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Jurors chose the death penalty as his punishment. But in February 2018, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a resentencing while upholding Brown's conviction.

At issue on appeal was Brown's decision to defend himself at trial, despite warnings from a judge about the perils of not using experienced, court-appointed attorneys. The appeals court ordered a new sentencing trial after concluding the judge should have said more about the dangers of self-representation.

The appeals court found the judge's warnings were "woefully insufficient" about issues involving the trial's punishment stage.

Brown, a DJ at an Oklahoma City club, and his wife were divorcing. He hired another club employee to kill her because she had talked of moving with their two young children to another state, according to evidence presented at trial.

Jessica Lynn Brown, 23, was found shot to death in her Midwest City home on Jan. 11, 2012.

A neighbor had seen her children playing alone in the street and called 911.

Oklahoma County District Judge Ray C. Elliott ordered Fabion Brown to serve his life sentences consecutively. On the count of conspiracy to commit murder, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.