Broken Arrow police and the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office are sharing input in the aftermath of the murder of a 16-year-old boy in Broken Arrow last month, and the recent arrests of two other teen suspects.
The incident in question happened on Jan. 24. Broken Arrow police say they responded to the 1400 block of West Trenton around 2:40 a.m. for an unresponsive teenage boy in the street. When officers arrived they found the 16-year-old with a gunshot wound. The boy was taken to a local hospital, but police say he later died.
"We don't have violent crime to this nature, all the time. On average, we have two or three homicides a year," said BAPD's Public Information Officer Ethan Hutchins.
An affidavit filed in the case says that 16-year-old Dacari Green was the victim. The court records go on to say that the deadly shooting allegedly happened because some gang members accused Green of being a snitch.
The affidavit adds that there was a group phone call that took place to discuss the accusations against Green with several different groups. A few people from the Bloods gang didn't believe Green's account and the affidavit says that's what led to his murder.
The investigation led police to one suspect charged in the case, 15-year-old Union 8th grader, Ky'Leigh Shaw. Police arrested Shaw, and she has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
Broken Arrow police shared Tuesday that a second arrest was made in that same case, 15-year-old Ja'Cori Whitmore. Whitmore is also facing a first-degree murder charge as an adult. NewsChannel 8 asked Hutchins if detectives were hoping to make any additional arrests.
"They're still actively working around the clock to solve the case," said Hutchins. "And to my knowledge, they are still continuing to look at new leads in the case, and you know, existing leads."
Hutchins said that there are certain reasons and different techniques that detectives used to determine that Shaw and Whitmore were the suspects. Hutchins said he could not share that information because it could interfere with the investigation.
NewsChannel 8 asked Hutchins how difficult it is for the department to work a murder case in which the suspects and victims are all teens.
"I think anybody who has a child is frustrated by this case right," Hutchins said. "Because we see violent crimes go on around us, but to have a child involved with a case like this is shocking; and that's been the conversations that we've had with the public."
Hutchins said at one point that he wanted to make clear that Broken Arrow is a safe community, and while it's been a difficult start to the year, police are doing their best to make sure things like this don't happen. Hutchins said he believed tackling violent youth crime like this incident though, ultimately boils down to a child's home environment.
"Hug your children and know what your children are doing and who they're hanging out with," said Hutchins.
NewsChannel 8 also reached out to the Tulsa County District Attorney's office to weigh in on what goes into the decision to charge a teen as an adult and received the following statement:
Tulsa County is experiencing an increase in teens committing violent crimes, such as robberies and shootings. This trend is troubling. When making a charging decision, we review and evaluate the evidence and the juvenile’s history to determine whether juvenile, youthful offender or adult charges are appropriate. Depending upon the severity of the crime and the age of the offender, there are statutory requirements which dictate whether an offender is treated as either a delinquent child, a youthful offender or as an adult. Our top priority is ensuring the safety of the community. We encourage parents and guardians to know where their children are, who they are hanging out with and what they are doing to help prevent these violent crimes from occurring.