Boyfriend accused of killing partner, setting fire to home

Authorities believe a woman’s significant other killed her and then set fire to the house where she lived.

Tonya Harris’s severely burned body was discovered unresponsive the night of April 8 inside a full-engulfed house fire at 906½ SW Summit.

The State Medical Examiner determined she had no smoke in her lungs and it appeared she’d been beaten with a blunt object, according to the probable cause affidavit. Investigators learned she lived there and had a volatile relationship with her boyfriend, Anthony Dewayne Boggan.

Detective Marcus Rucker stated neighbors said the couple were constantly fighting. One witness said she saw Boggan hitting Harris while they walked down the street on April 3, the affidavit states. The witness remembered Harris calling for him to stop and screaming for help another time.

The witness said around 4 or 5 p.m. April 8, she heard the woman screaming for help before Boggan walked away. She later saw Boggan standing in another yard, staring at Harris’ home, the affidavit states. The witness said smoke was seen around 9 p.m. coming from the house. She banged on the door but there was no answer, Rucker stated. Another witness called 911.

Surveillance video from a nearby business showed Boggan walking away from the area of the fire minutes before the first 911 call was made, the detective stated.

Harris’ death is the seventh reported in Lawton this year.

The April 9 death of Clayton Stephens is identified as the city’s eighth this year, according to Constitution records.

Tawann Dupree Richardson, a.k.a. Pooh Butt, 23, is accused of shooting and killing Stephens and leaving him on the side of the road at Southwest 38th Street and Coombs Road the morning of April 9, Easter Sunday. The two men had been in a sexual relationship, according to the warrant.

Investigators believe Richardson shot Stephens in the face after Stephens threatened to expose their relationship.

After a first-degree murder warrant was issued April 14, Richardson was taken into custody near Phoenix, Ariz., following a high-speed pursuit. He is awaiting extradition back to Oklahoma for his initial court appearance.