Man who killed cellmate in 2021 is sentenced to life in prison
A man accused of beating his cellmate to death at the Oklahoma County jail has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.
Shaquile Brown confessed to beating Brad Lane with his own medical walking boot in early 2021.
Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo last week sentenced Brown to life in prison, with the first 30 years to be served and the rest suspended.
Lane was beaten to death Jan. 2, 2021, as he screamed for 40 minutes for help.
During the beating, an inmate from a nearby cell on the jail's medical floor called over and over on his wall phone for help. No one came until it was too late.
A jailer making a routine cell check found the 40year-old Lane dead in his 13th floor cell and his cellmate, Brown, with a metal object in his hand.
Investigators later determined the calls for help went unanswered because a phone that should have rang had been muted.
The incident and the lack of response was investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Oklahoma County's district attorney.
Brown confessed after being taken to a hospital for a mental assessment, the OSBI reported. The medical examiner's office listed Lane's cause of death as blunt force trauma and manner of death as a homicide.
Brown was in the jail after being arrested on Dec. 4, 2020, on charges of robbery, assault, gang association and possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
Lane, meanwhile, was awaiting a preliminary hearing after being accused of possessing a stolen vehicle, obstructing an officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.
After Lane's death, a wrongful death civil suit was filed against the Oklahoma County Jail Trust and Oklahoma County commissioners. Another civil lawsuit was recently filed after another detainee died while inside the facility on Feb. 2, 2021.
The lawsuits could result in jury verdicts or settlements totaling millions of dollars. Property taxes in Oklahoma County would go up to pay them off.
Oklahoma County paid a $1.1 million settlement last year over the 2017 death of an inmate who was shot by pepper balls at close range as many as 16 times.