CRIME & SAFETY

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is looking into a death which happened at the Lawton City Jail. Officials with the OSBI say the inmate was discovered during routine 7 a.m. cell checks on Saturday. The Lawton Police Department contacted the OSBI to conduct the investigation.

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - A jury found Loretta Vanburen not guilty Saturday evening in the 2019 death of her husband, Terry Vanburen. During closing arguments, Loretta’s attorney pointed out what he said were critical mistakes made by Cache Police Department, OSBI and the State Medical Examiner’s office throughout the investigation.

Comanche County jurors will return to the courthouse Monday morning for placement on the second week of the jury trial docket. On Monday, former Lawton Correctional Facility inmate Jordan Neconish, 42, will go on trial for killing another inmate in 2020. He will begin trial for a count of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and possession of contraband in Comanche County District Judge Grant Sheperd’s court, records indicate.

On Saturday a Comanche County jury found Loretta Michelle Van Buren, 63, not guilty to a count of first-degree murder of the death of her husband. Loretta Van Buren has been on trial this week for September 2019 shooting death of her husband Terry Van Buren.

The Lawton Fire Department welcomed seven new members during a graduation ceremony Friday at City Hall. The new firefighters, Kynel Daniels, Jesse Dodson, Jax Emmons, Callum Hill, Kobe Houseman, Elijah Hoyt and Joshua Turk, received their badges from Fire Chief Jared Williams. All of them have prior experience, which helped the Lawton Fire Department to compress their training into only four weeks, Williams said.

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - After nearly a full day of deliberation, jurors found a man charged in a 2020 death not guilty. Larry Standridge II was charged with second degree murder in the death of James Cloud. Prosecutors said the testimony effectively placed Standridge at the scene of the murder...

After 6 hours of deliberations, a Comanche County jury found a man not guilty of killing his romantic rival. Larry Keith Standridge II, 42, of Lawton, was charged with second-degree murder for shooting and killing James David Cloud, 31, at his Chattanooga home the night of Nov. 23, 2020. The...

Police have identified the woman killed by a driver while crossing a busy Lawton roadway on foot Friday night. The driver accused of killing her has made his initial court appearance and is free on $50,000 bond. Annie Porche was struck and killed while walking northbound in the inside eastbound...

A 23-year-old man accused of causing a 9-month-old’s brain bleed is in jail for trafficking in fentanyl. Ryan Abiff Smith Jr., 23, of Lawton, made his initial appearance Wednesday in Comanche County District Court where he was charged with felony counts of aggravated fentanyl trafficking and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of carrying a gun while under the influence, records indicate. The trafficking charge is punishable by two years to life in prison.

The soldier, who was pronounced dead on Memorial Day, was 20 years old.

An Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent testified about a crime scene on Wednesday in the trial of a Lawton man accused of killing his romantic rival in November 2020. Larry Keith Standridge II, 42, is on trial in Comanche County District Judge Grant Sheperd’s court for a count of second-degree murder stemming from the Nov. 23, 2020, shooting death of James David Cloud, 31, of Chattanooga. He faces between 10 years to life in prison.

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - Two murder trials continued into their third day, with jury deliberations underway in one. Closing statements were heard in the second degree murder trial of Larry Standridge. In their arguments, prosecutors said that there was little physical evidence, but testimonies from various people effectively put Standridge...

Following 1½ days of jury selection, opening arguments were heard Wednesday in the trial of a Cache woman accused of killing her husband in September 2019 and staging the scene to look like a suicide. Loretta Michelle Van Buren, 62, of Cache, is on trial in Chief Comanche County...

COMANCHE COUNTY, Okla. (KSWO) -A pair of murder trials continued into their second day Wednesday at the Comanche County Courthouse. Witnesses were heard in the second degree murder trial of Larry Standridge. He’s charged in the shooting death of James Cloud back in 2020 - and the state called on...

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - New security precautions are set to go into effect at Lawton’s City Hall. Starting June 5, anyone entering the building will need to go through a metal detector at the main entrance. This complements the security cameras that have been installed at the building. Visitors...

LAWTON — A federal criminal complaint filed last week accuses a Lawton man of beating a Native American woman to death in her home in Lawton, then dumping her body near Medicine Park. The body of Karon “Dinkers” Conneywerdy Smith, 68, was found a few feet from Oklahoma Highway...

A Lawton man is accused of busting a man’s head open with a crowbar is now in jail on $50,000 bond. Markie Ishman, 32, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Comanche County District Court where he was charged with a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - The Lawton Police Department closed part of Cache Road Tuesday morning as they’re continuing their investigation into a deadly hit and run that happened on Friday night. The traffic division closed the 6400 block of Cache Road from 9:30 until 10:30. Police say the driver...

One murder trial was continued and one continued seating a jury as Comanche County’s three-week trial docket began Tuesday. The trial of a man accused of pulling the trigger in a September 2021 shooting death was continued the day it was slated to begin in Presiding Comanche County District Judge Emmit Tayloe’s courtroom.

The former fiancée of a man on trial for murder kicked off the opening day of the Comanche County jury docket on Tuesday. Jury selection continued into the afternoon before opening arguments and witness testimony in Judge Grant Sheperd’s court for the trial of a man accused of killing a man he considered his romantic rival.