Checotah The staff of Honey
The staff of Honey Springs Battlefield is honored to announce the site will host a traveling exhibit from the Tulsa Historical Society entitled “Tulsa 1921” about the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Honey Springs Battlefield reported this week. The traveling exhibit will be on display inside the Visitor Center, Saturday, December 5, through Saturday, December 19. Regular admission prices will apply to those who visit the traveling exhibit, Honey Springs Battlefield reported.
According to historian Scott Ellsworth in The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the Tulsa Race Massacre is “believed to be the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” From May 31 to June 1, 1921, the Greenwood area of Tulsa, known as “Black Wall Street,” was ravaged by a white mob. Official estimates range from 50-300 killed, with thousands of homes and businesses destroyed, the Honey Springs Battlefield reported.
Hugo
The remains of John Lafayette Mangrum have been positively identified after he went missing from Hugo in March 2008, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) reported this week.
The remains were discovered in August 2018 in a remote area in northern Pushmataha County. At that time the Pushmataha County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the OSBI in identifying the remains, the OSBI reported.
March 30, 2008, a missing person report regarding Mangrum’s, who was 67 at the time of his disappearance, was filed with Hugo Police Department. At that time, DNA from Mangrum’s immediate family was collected and submitted to the National Missingand Unidentified Persons System NamUs. Recently, the University of North Texas Health Science Center notified the OSBI the remains located in northern Pushmataha County were those of Mangrum the OSBI reported.
Oklahoma City
Vernon Wayne Brock, 71, of Alva, has been sentenced this week to serve 87 months in federal prison and pay a $30,000 fine for hiring an individual to commit murder on the defendant’s behalf, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing and the United States Department of Justice reported this week.
April 17, 2019, Brock was indicted with using interstate commerce facilities to commit murder-for-hire. November 6, 2019, Brock pled guilty to the one-count indictment, admitting to the use of interstate facilities with intent that murder be committed in exchange for payment, the United States Department of Justice reported.
This week, U.S. District Judge David L. Russell sentenced Brock to serve 87 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, Brock was ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, the United States Department of Justice reported.
Oklahoma City
This week, Michael Lee Oliver, 33, of Lawton, was sentenced to serve 9 months in federal prison for illegally possessing ammunition after having been previously convicted of a felony crime stemming from his serial theft of ammunition from local retail stores, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing and the United States Department of Justice reported this week.
March 17, 2020, Oliver was arrested for stealing 16 boxes of ammunition, or more than 700 rounds of ammunition, from a local sporting goods store. August 5, 2020, Oliver pleaded guilty to shoplifting ammunition multiple times a week from various sporting goods locations, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.
This week, Senior U.S. District Judge Robin J. Cauthron sentenced. Judge Cauthron also imposed a 3-year term of supervised release following Oliver’s release from prison, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City officers fatally shot a 15-year-old boy who had tried to rob a convenience store at gunpoint, police said, the Associated Press reported this week.
Five officers opened fire on Stavian Rodriguez after he crawled out a drivethru window of the store Monday night with a gun in his hand, according to Sgt. Gary Knight. He said a sixth officer on the scene fired a non-lethal round, AP reported.
Rodriquez had dropped the weapon as ordered by officers before the shooting, but appeared to be reaching for perhaps another weapon when he was shot, Knight said. One weapon was recovered at the scene, but Knight said police are not releasing information about it or whether other weapons were found, AP reported.
Rodriguez was taken to a hospital where he died. It was not clear how many shots were fired or how many times Rodriguez was struck, Knight said and AP reported.
Officers Bethany Sears, Jared Barton, Corey Adams, John Skuta and Brad Pemberton, along with Sgt. Sarah Carli are all on paid leave pending an investigation into the shooting, according to Knight, AP reported.