Former Lawton police officers slated for trial in 2021 shooting death

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the top story of 2023.

Just over two years after the December 2021 shooting death of Quadry Malik Sanders, two former Lawton police officers are slated for a 2024 jury trial.

Nathan Michael Ronan, 31, and Robert Leslie Hinkle, 31, appeared Nov. 8 in Comanche County Presiding District Judge Emmit Tayloe’s court for formal arraignment for their felony charges: Ronan is charged with shooting with intent to kill and Hinkle with first-degree manslaughter, records indicate.

It was the culmination of a long road since the Dec. 5, 2021, incident that left Sanders, 29, dead.

Ronand and Hinkle were among Lawton police officers responding to a call of an armed hostage situation and protective order violation against Sanders at 1806 NW Lincoln, the home of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his children, Briana Wattenberg. Ronan and Hinkle shot at Sanders after he failed to comply with their commands.

In all, Hinkle fired 15 shots and Ronan fired four.

The release of Hinkle’s police body camera video led to national and international notoriety regarding the case. In the video, Sanders is seen stepping back behind a refrigerator outside the home while being ordered to continue coming forward with his hands raised. This was moments after he was seen by another officer trying to exit the back door. He was still considered armed.

After stepping behind the refrigerator, Sanders lowered his hands and was told again to show them. Sanders was seen shifting a ball cap from his right hand to his left as he moved his right hand toward his pants pocket. This is when Hinkle fired a four-shot volley into Sanders.

After falling back and to the ground, video and audio showed Sanders again being ordered to show his hands and to stop reaching toward his pants pocket. Moments later, Hinkle discharged 11 more rounds and Ronan, four.

Sanders received 12 bullet wounds to the upper and lower body that killed him, according to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s autopsy report. The medical examiner reported finding methamphetamine in Sanders’ blood.

Ballistics testing showed that 11 wounds came from Hinkle’s gun and one was unidentifiable from either man’s gun.

Ronan had initially been charged with Hinkle in May 2022 with first-degree manslaughter but the charge was amended at the end of the Oct. 26 preliminary hearing following a motion by Comanche County District Attorney Kyle Cabelka. It was the third part of the hearing in Special District Judge Susan Zwaan’s court that included the body camera video and testimony from Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Lead Case Agent Alfredo “A.J.” Solis.

The first 2½-hour hearing Aug. 11 was continued by another one on Sept. 21 before the conclusionary hearing in October.

Ronan and Hinkle had been scheduled to begin their preliminary hearing in April but defense attorney Gary James entered a motion on behalf of his clients to have Special District Judge Christine Galbraith disqualify herself from presiding over the hearing. The request stemmed from her serving as a Comanche County Assistant District Attorney at the time the former officers were charged. Galbraith was sworn into office in January.

After Galbraith declined to recuse, a hearing was held and Chief District Judge Scott D. Meaders ordered Zwaan preside over the hearing. He cited the Code of Judicial Conduct canon stating “a judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety” with his decision.

Following an internal department investigation, Ronan and Hinkle were terminated from the Lawton Police Department on Jan. 7, 2022, for violating the department’s use of force policy. It followed the City of Lawton’s release of Hinkle’s body camera video to the public.

In June, arbitrators found the City of Lawton had not established that the two officers used excessive or unreasonable force and called for their reinstatement. The City of Lawton is appealing the decision.

Sanders’ mother, Mina Woods, is being represented by constitutional lawyer S. Lee Merritt in a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Lawton, police department and the two former officers. In a June press conference at Lawton City Hall, Merritt likened Sanders’ death to those of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery regarding what he called the targeted killing of black men in America. He credited the release of the body camera video with bringing the case to attention.

After being scheduled for the January/February 2024 jury trial docket, a joint motion by the prosecution and defense filed Dec. 12 was approved. The trial has been continued until the April/May 2024 docket.