A Stillwater man charged with first degree murder after stomping and beating his "best friend" to death has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.
Christopher Alden Dawes, 28, faced life in prison if convicted of first degree murder. As a result of his plea to manslaughter, he is sentenced to 20 years.
Throughout the case, Dawes's attorney argued that the circumstances of the killing did not justify a first degree murder charge, calling the offense a "classic heat of passion case." Certainly, the events leading up to the brutal beating seem to indicate such.
On the night of October 27, 2012, Dawes, his girlfriend Jasmine Lewis, then 24, and Dawes's friend Jeremy Sutherland, 32, began drinking vodka in a converted shed Dawes and Lewis shared. Dawes passed out, but later awoke to find Sutherland kissing Lewis. By his own admission, Dawes flew into a rage, repeatedly punching Sutherland and assaulting Lewis when she tried to intervene.
Dawes told an investigator that Lewis eventually convinced him to stop hitting Sutherland, and he dragged his friend outside to a neighboring yard. He says that Sutherland was still mumbling at the time.
Dawes allegedly went inside, got dressed, and had another altercation with Lewis before going back outside to check on Sutherland. He says he asked Sutherland, "Why did you make me do this?" Sutherland's mumbled reply once again infuriated Dawes, who began punching, stomping, and kicking him again.
Dawes left the scene but returned a short time later to turn himself in to police.
Sutherland was taken to a Stillwater hospital in critical condition with injuries including internal bleeding and brain swelling caused by blunt force trauma to the head and body, a broken nose, and eleven fractured ribs. When he died of his injuries in the early hours of October 31, Dawes was charged with first degree murder.
Although his defense attorney argued that Dawes' actions did not reflect the "malice aforethought" specified in a first degree murder conviction, the prosecution was able to make that charge stick because Dawes left to get dressed and returned to continue beating the defenseless Sutherland.
Dawes's guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter was part of a negotiated plea.
Oklahoma state law defines manslaughter as an act of homicide occurring under one of three specific sets of circumstances, including "[w]hen perpetrated without a design to effect death, and in a heat of passion, but in a cruel and unusual manner, or by means of a dangerous weapon; unless it is committed under such circumstances as constitute excusable or justifiable homicide" (21 O.S. § 711).
If anger gets out of hand and becomes a physical altercation, assault charges or worse could be your fate. Learn more about Oklahoma violent crime laws, or contact us to discuss your case with an experienced defense lawyer.
