May prison stabbings lead to charges against two inmates in Lawton

Two separate May stabbing incidents at Lawton Correctional Facility have led to felony charges against a couple of Oklahoma Department of Corrections inmates.

Charges were filed Friday in Comanche County District Court against Walter Alonzo Wilbur, 34, for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and Trevon L. Steele, 24, for possession of weapons by an inmate, records indicate.

Wilbur is charged with stabbing another inmate at Lawton Correctional Facility during a prison gang fight in May. According to the probable cause affidavit, the stabbing followed an argument about fake synthetic marijuana and phone privileges. Investigators said he flushed the weapon down the toilet.

Wilbur has prior felony convictions in Oklahoma County from March 2014: assault and/or battery with a dangerous weapon and convicted felony prohibited from carrying firearms; July 2014, carrying contraband into jail, assault and/or battery with a dangerous weapon; and December 2019 for convicted felons prohibited from carrying firearms, robbery or attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records.

Wilbur has since been moved to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

During one May stabbing that left an inmate wounded with a collapsed lung, Steele is accused of having a shank in his cell following the incident, according to the probable cause affidavit. Steele is one of two potential suspects involved in the stabbing.

Investigators have received conflicting statements as to who committed the stabbing and charges have not been filed against the other inmate, records indicate.

Both incidents happened among a spate of Oklahoma prison violence investigators link to gang issues in May that led to lockdowns throughout the state’s correctional facilities.

Steele has multiple prior felony convictions from September 2019 in Oklahoma County for gang-related offense, assault and/or battery with a dangerous weapon, use of vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and robbery or attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Steele has since been moved to the Allen Gamble Correctional Center in Holdenville, according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records.