New charge stems from suicide attempt for man accused of fatal fentanyl sale

One of three people charged with selling fentanyl to a Lawton man who overdosed Jan. 17 is accused of bringing fentanyl into jail when he was arrested and taking 50 pills in an attempt to kill himself.

He told police he didn’t want to “spend the rest of my natural life in prison.”

Brandon Samuel McClure, 36, of Lawton, made his initial appearance Wednesday in Comanche County District Court where he received a felony count of bringing drugs into jail, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The charge stems from McClure’s Jan. 18 arrest for his alleged role in the Jan. 17 overdose death of Steven Knight, 60, who was found dead from a fentanyl overdose at 315 SW Washington. While in the Lawton City Jail, McClure overdosed on fentanyl pills he’d smuggled into the facility.

After being in the hospital for three days, McClure told investigators he’d tried to commit suicide after eating 50 fentanyl pills he’d smuggled in a torn Walmart sack he’d stuff in his anus that weren’t found when he was searched, the probable cause affidavit states.

“Not trying to spend the rest of my natural life in prison,” McClure told Detective Robert Meurant, according to the affidavit. He is looking at up to life in prison if convicted of Knight’s death.

McClure is accused of selling the fatal dose of fentanyl.

On Jan. 24, McClure and Jody Kay McDaniel, 35, of Lawton, were charged with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a communication facility. Sang Hoon Lee, 22, was charged with second-degree murder, using a telephone to distribute a controlled drug, distribution/possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and unlawful possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute, records indicate.

McClure, McDaniel and Lee are each being held on $150,000 bonds for those charges. They return to court at 3 p.m. April 2 for their preliminary hearing conferences, records indicate.

An additional $5,000 bond was set for McClure for the latest charge. He returns to court at 3 p.m. March 25 for his preliminary hearing conference in this case.