Oklahoma Race Shootings Go To Trial

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Prosecutors said Friday they would seek the death penalty against two Tulsa men charged in an April 2012 shooting rampage that killed three black people and left two others wounded.

Jake England, 20, and Alvin Watts, 33, are charged with first-degree murder in what authorities describe as the racially motivated killings of William Allen, Bobby Clark and Dannaer Fields, who were shot over Easter weekend as they walked near their homes.

England and Watts, who also face hate crimes charges, are due to be arraigned Wednesday in district court. Under Oklahoma law, the potential punishment on each of the murder charges is either life in prison with parole, life without parole or the death penalty.

“The defendants are presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present our evidence at future due process hearings,” District Attorney Tim Harris said in a statement Friday.

Attorneys for both men said Friday they had hoped prosecutors would have decided against seeking the death penalty.

“I’m always disappointed when it is filed because I’m against the death penalty, but that’s a part of the world I live in,” said Shena Burgess, one of Watts’ public defenders.

Clark Brewster, who is handling England’s defense pro bono, said he still held “some degree of hope” for his client despite Friday’s announcement.

“We’ll be very, very well prepared and very careful in our defense of this young man,” Brewster said. “He’s only 20 years old. I never think killing is a good idea, on either side.”

The shootings happened in a predominantly black section of Tulsa — not far from where one of the nation’s worst race riots happened more than 90 years ago — and all five victims were black.