Murder, child sex abuse trials close docket

The final week of the Comanche County jury trial docket includes murder and child sex abuse cases.

Each case is subject to continuation or a plea before jurors are selected.

On Monday, a 24-year-old Geronimo man will go to trial for a 2023 murder case.

Timothy David Carpenter will begin trial in Comanche County District Judge Jay Walker’s courtroom for charges of first-degree murder – deliberate intent and possession of a firearm after former felony convictions. The murder charge is punishable by life in prison or life without parole.

Carpenter is accused of shooting and killing Anthony Montoya the morning of Oct. 6, 2023. Police found Montoya dead from a gunshot wound in front of the office building of an apartment complex at 2235 NW Hoover, according to the probable cause affidavit. Security video showed a Ford Explorer show up shortly after 3:30 a.m. and two people got out. Police said it appeared there was a fight followed by a flash of light before the vehicle pulled away and a person ran off.

Witnesses said Montoya had gone to the Apache Casino with them before the incident but he’d left without telling them where he was going, according to the affidavit. He called them around 3:30 a.m. asking them to pick him up at the apartments but, they said, when they arrived, they couldn’t find him.

Investigators learned Carpenter was the suspect and that he’d been inside the Explorer before the shooting happened, the affidavit states. A witness said they’d driven to the apartments to pick up Carpenter but he refused to ride with Montoya. The men got into an argument before, the witness said, Carpenter fired a single gunshot.

Carpenter has a May 2022 felony conviction in Comanche County for larceny of an auto/aircraft/other motor vehicle, according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records.

Carpenter remains held on $1 million bond where he’s been since his initial court appearance on Oct. 17, 2023.

In District Judge Grant Sheperd’s courtroom Monday, jury selection will begin for a Lawton man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and taking photos.

Jacob Reed Lester, 32, will be tried for five felony charges: first-degree rape (victim under 14), first-degree rape of a victim under 14 by instrumentation, forcible sodomy, lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 and producing/possessing child pornography, records indicate.

Lawton police began investigating after the girl’s mother reported finding suspicious messages on the girl’s phone and a photo of Lester sexually assaulting the girl, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The girl told Detective Gregory Adams that Lester had been sexually assaulting her in several ways almost nightly since January 2023 and that the older man also had taken photos of some of the incidents the affidavit states.

Jury selection begins Wednesday in District Judge Scott D. Meaders’ courtroom for a 32-year-old Lawton man accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl.

Judah Josiah Muse will be on trial for five counts each of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16 and sodomy with a victim under the age of 16, records indicate. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The told investigators Muse would force to watch pornography and would inappropriately touch her, the probable cause affidavit states. She also said he would spoon her while unclothed and tried to have sex with her in different ways, the affidavit states. She said it happened more than once.

Muse told investigators he didn’t have any reason to believe the girl lied, “she is just not good at keeping secrets,” according to the affidavit.