Death penalty sought against Tulsa man in slayings of Muskogee brothers, three other shootings (2024)

By Samantha Vicent Tulsa World

The Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office asked Wednesday for consideration of the death penalty against a man accused of killing two people and shooting three others in separate crimes in September.

District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler says Ondriel Layson Smith should face the possibility of capital punishment because, among other grounds, one of the homicides occurred in an attempt to avoid being arrested.

Smith is charged with killing Muskogee brothers Keith Williams and Glynn Williams in a parking lot in the 5600 block of East Skelly Drive on Sept. 5.

The document Kunzweiler’s office filed with the court says prosecutors think Glynn Williams was killed because Smith wanted to avoid arrest or prosecution for having fatally shot Keith Williams in front of him.

It also states that Smith has nine previous felony convictions and that his actions created “a great risk of death” to more than one person. Therefore, Kunzweiler argues, there is a probability that Smith would continue to commit acts of violence “that would constitute a continuing threat to society.”

One of his convictions is for attempted robbery with a firearm, which can be used as an aggravating circ*mstance in a request for a death sentence.

“In a 33-day period, the defendant shot five persons … killing two of them,” and Smith shot another person on April 22, about four months before the other shootings, prosecutors allege in the document. Court records show that the earlier shooting case was dismissed Jan. 31 “pending further investigation,” but it was referenced in the document seeking the death penalty as proof that Smith could be a continuing threat if he is out of custody.

Smith is next due in court before District Judge Dawn Moody on April 9.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Chief Public Defender Corbin Brewster said his office will provide Smith with a “thorough and professional defense” and did not rule out asking for additional funding “so that no stone is left unturned.”

“The extraordinary expense of prosecuting and defending a death penalty case in Tulsa County is ultimately paid by Oklahoma taxpayers,” Brewster said. “Unfortunately, the decision to impose these additional costs to our criminal justice system is the district attorney’s alone. Because Oklahoma’s death penalty protocol remains undeveloped, untested and unapproved, these decisions should be scrutinized more than ever before.”

Smith, 35, was a suspect in the unrelated shootings of three people before his arrest Sept. 17 on a warrant for shooting with intent to kill related to the April 22 incident. The arrest followed a traffic stop in which officers had determined that his vehicle matched the description of one used in a string of burglaries.

On Sept. 25, police added two first-degree murder complaints against Smith in connection with the homicides of Keith and Glynn Williams.

Detectives have said they found a 9 mm handgun in Smith’s vehicle on Sept. 17. They reported that cartridge casings ejected from the gun matched those found at the site of the homicides as well as those recovered from a Sept. 11 double shooting at Incredible Pizza near 71st Street and Memorial Drive.

An arrest report indicates that police learned that Smith’s ex-girlfriend bought the 9 mm handgun from a pawn shop in March. She told police she was with Smith when he killed Keith and Glynn Williams.

In a Jan. 31 preliminary hearing, the ex-girlfriend said she later got into a fight with Smith that resulted in his pointing a gun at her and eventually shooting her in the leg.

Special Judge Millie Otey allowed the state to add a count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon to the case against Smith apparently based on the ex-girlfriend’s testimony, according to court minutes.

In an interview with police, Smith denied involvement in the homicides but acknowledged having the firearm, according to the arrest report.

The reported victims in the shootings outside Incredible Pizza — a man and a woman — told police they had received a text message from a man who owed one of them money and who asked them to meet him. Smith is accused of shooting at them when the man got out of his car to talk in the parking lot, injuring him and the woman. Both survived.

The man and woman told police on Sept. 17 that they found a photo of their assailant on Facebook and learned that he was Smith.

Tulsa Police Homicide Sgt. Brandon Watkins said during the preliminary hearing that he initially had a separate investigation into the Incredible Pizza shooting because he didn’t know it was related to the Williams’ deaths.

Smith is additionally charged with four counts of knowingly concealing stolen property and four drug-related offenses, as well as obstruction and possession of paraphernalia.

Those charges are related to what officers said they found during the Sept. 17 arrest.

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