Oklahoma

Suspect in multiple Oklahoma, Alabama killings arrested in Arkansas

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

Suspect in multiple Oklahoma, Alabama killings arrested in Arkansas

OKLAHOMA CITY — A man who was linked to multiple homicides in Oklahoma and Alabama was arrested Thursday after a nearly two-day manhunt, authorities said.

Stacy Lee Drake, 50, was taken into custody without incident at about 10 a.m. in a wooded area south of an intersection in Morrilton, Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Department of Public Safety. He was wanted in connection with the slayings of three people in Oklahoma and a fourth in Alabama, authorities said.

“Drake is wanted in connection with homicides and carjackings in Oklahoma and is wanted on other felony warrants from multiple jurisdictions, with charges including aggravated robbery, carjacking, and murder,” the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

The Arkansas Department of Public Safety had warned residents in the area of Morrilton, about 50 miles northwest of Little Rock, to be on alert after he was spotted outside a motel in the city. Prior to his arrest, authorities said Wednesday that Drake was known to have purchased camping gear that indicated that he was still in the area.

Drake, who has an extensive criminal history, was described by law enforcement as armed and dangerous.

“If you look at his criminal history, he was continuously escalating his violent behavior,” Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Capt. Jack Kennedy said at a news conference Thursday. “He is now at least responsible for three, possibly four homicides that we know about in the last two months. So, I would not be surprised if there’s other homicides out there that are unsolved in other jurisdictions.”

‘Take full responsibility’: Pamela Smart accepts responsibility in plotting 1990 murder of husband with teen lover

Suspect tied to at least 3 killings in Oklahoma, 1 in Alabama

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was asked for assistance in a homicide investigation in Gans, a town in Sequoyah County near the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line. The agency said Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office deputies had responded to a report regarding two deceased individuals around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found an adult male and female dead inside a propane business, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The man and woman, identified as Taylor Sharp and Tara Underwood, had been shot to death, the agency said in a court affidavit. Sharp and Underwood were employees of LaFerry’s Propane.

Authorities identified Drake as a person of interest after reviewing the surveillance video. The video showed him driving away in Underwood’s 2016 GMC Acadia after exiting the business, according to the affidavit. The vehicle was later located in Morrilton late Tuesday night.

Drake is also suspected of killing a man in El Reno, a city just west of Oklahoma City. Shortly after his arrest on Thursday, the El Reno Police Department confirmed to local television station KOCO 5 that Drake was identified as a suspect in a June 14 murder.

The man, identified as 56-year-old Phillip Emerson, was found dead in a home and his vehicle was presumed stolen by the suspect, according to KOCO 5.

In Alabama, Kennedy said Drake is suspected of killing Alcoholics Anonymous counselor Russell Andrews, 62, on or about May 14. Police had responded to the Alcoholics Anonymous Club in downtown Tuscaloosa after Andrews was discovered dead inside the building.

Surveillance video showed Andrew’s vehicle missing from the scene and presumed stolen by the suspect, according to Kennedy. The vehicle was then located several hours later near the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line.

Who is Stacy Lee Drake?

Authorities previously said Drake was from Birmingham, Alabama, but Kennedy noted Thursday that the suspect was not from the state.

“(Drake), at one time, was arrested in Alabama 15 years ago… for multiple, numerous violent felony crimes,” Kennedy said, adding that Drake was linked to a Birmingham address that “may have been involved with him being in a homeless shelter there.”

Drake had only been in Tuscaloosa for about a week or two, Kennedy said. He described Drake as a “transient” who had no fixed address and an extensive criminal history in multiple states.

Based on background investigations, Kennedy said investigators believe Drake spent a lot of time in Oklahoma and Arizona. Drake was also a federal inmate at “different points in his career” and there were outstanding pending federal charges on him for violating his parole, according to Kennedy.

“He was utilizing a false name, and possibly dressing himself differently, including hats and glasses, at the time that he was in Tuscaloosa,” Kennedy said. “It appears that he was traveling the country in this lifestyle, utilizing false names, in an attempt to keep from being incarcerated.”

Source link

Click to comment

Oklahoma

Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In

Published

11 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In

PORTAL TRACKER

Oklahoma State’s newly constructed staff got on the board Saturday, picking up portal commitments on offense and special special teams, so how about some defense?

Three Big 12 defenders have been linked with Oklahoma State via the transfer portal over the past few days, including a pair of former OK Preps standouts. Here’s a look.

Kanijal Thomas, CB, Kansas State

Thomas is an Oklahoman, playing his high school ball at Del City. He visited Stillwater on Saturday, according to On3.

He was a redshirt sophomore for the Wildcats in 2025, playing in seven games as a true freshman in 2023 before an injury saw his sophomore season end two games in.

Thomas played in eight games at K-State in 2025, finishing the year with five tackles, a PBU and a forced fumble. According to PFF, he gave up four catches for 21 yards this season on seven targets.

Now listed at 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, Thomas was a three-star prospect coming out of Del City in the 2023 class. He picked K-State over offers from OSU, Texas Tech, Iowa State and others.

Maurion Horn, CB, Texas Tech

Another Oklahoma kid, Maurion Horn has spent the past four seasons in Lubbock, where he has played in 30 games during that time. According to 247Sports, Horn will visit Stillwater on Monday.

He started all of Tech’s games in 2024, finishing that season with 56 tackles, three tackles for loss and five pass breakups. He played in seven games and dealt with some sort of injury, appearing on Tech’s availability report in Weeks 4, 14 and 15.

Horn has been targeted 88 times in his career, per PFF, where he has allowed just 47 catches.

He was a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of Broken Arrow. He ended up picking Tech over offers from OSU, OU, Texas, Baylor, Arkansas and others.

Braylon Rigsby, Edge, Texas Tech

Listed at 6-foot-2, 275 pounds, Braylon Rigsby will join his Texas Tech teammate in Stillwater on Monday, according to 247Sports.

He’s played in 26 games across the past two seasons in Lubbock, accumulating 25 tackles and three tackles for loss during that time.

Per PFF, Rigsby has 21 QB pressures in his career to go with two QB hits.

He hails from Woodsville, Texas, which is near the Louisiana border. Rigsby was a three-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, coming in as the No. 861 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking.

Source link

Oklahoma

Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma

Published

23 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma

Elite Delta Force captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife about 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

It happened in the Caracas, the capitol of Venezuela.

Social media posts how strikes ordered by President Trump into Venezuela and its military bases.

News 9 political analyst Scott Mitchell said the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America has not always been smooth and adds so many dominos will fall as a result.

“Venezuela is the beachhead for our adversaries that’s Cuba and Russia and China and Iran and it looks as if this latest situation where that they were assembling Iran swift attack boats that was sort of the last straw,” said Mitchell.

Retired war correspondent Mike Boettcher said the planning on capturing Maduro began in mid-December.

He adds Venezuela is a massive oil supplier whose oil has been taken off the market for years because of sanctions.

He has concerns about what comes next.

“That disrupts a lot of things.It even has an effect on the war in Ukraine, as Russia, you know, has used higher oil revenue because Venezuela’s oil was off the market.Oil prices went up.It helps fund the war in Ukraine,” said Boettcher.

The ramifications could even reach Oklahoma.

“China gets a 30 percent discount on the oil.If Venezuela goes for a more legitimate government and the sanctions are lifting, then they’re flooding the oil markets and that means bad news for the Oklahoma economy,” added Mitchell.

Following the capture of Maduro, President Trump said the U.S. will take control of the oil reserves in Venezuela.

Sources also say there are plans from the current administration to recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars in their oil industry.

A verified video shows the current state of Venezuela after the military operation.

Source link

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State expected to lose talented EDGE to transfer portal

Published

7 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma State expected to lose talented EDGE to transfer portal

Oklahoma State EDGE Kyran Duhon plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. Duhon was a member of the 2024 recruiting class.

Duhon spent one year at Oklahoma State, logged 16 total tackles (eight solo) across nine games. He began his career at UTEP, where he had a productive true freshman season, Duhon finished 2024 with 43 total tackles, including seven sacks and two PBUs.

At UTEP, his one season there resulted in second team All-Conference USA honors. He was also named to the On3 True Freshman All-America Team as well as the the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

However, Duhon’s stay in Stillwater didn’t go as expected. Oklahoma State finished the season with a 1-11 record, which included the Cowboys firing longtime head coach Mike Gundy after a 1-2 start. Doug Meacham was named interim head coach but ended the year 0-9.

Eric Morris has since been named as the program’s next head coach. He comes from North Texas, which finished with an 11-2 record and a trip to the American Conference championship game this past season. However, it doesn’t appear that Duhon will be sticking around during the changing of the guard at Oklahoma State this offseason.

Before college, Duhon was the No. 1,706 overall player in the class, and was recruited as the the No. 165 linebacker during the cycle, per the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was ranked as the No. 242 overall player out of Texas.

Once the NCAA transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, players can officially enter their names in the NCAA transfer portal and go on to initiate contact with their preferred schools. The portal will be open for 15 days and close on Jan. 16.

Notably, players who are on teams competing in the national championship game are allowed five extra days to make their portal decision. The College Football Playoff championship game will be played on Jan. 19, so the players on those teams will be allowed until Jan. 24 to enter the portal and choose their next school.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Source link