Inmates charged with separate prison murders

Arrest warrants were issued Thursday for two former Lawton Correctional Facility inmates accused of separate murders while in the prison.

The Comanche County District Court issued the felony warrants for Roger Kent Chase, 35, and for Lamarcus Davenport, 33, records indicate.

Chase received a count of first-degree murder – deliberate intent which is punishable by life in prison, life without parole or death.

Davenport received counts of first-degree murder – deliberate intent and possession of weapons by an inmate.

Chase’s allegations

Chase is accused of strangling and killing his cellmate, Matthew Wohnoutka, on Dec. 7, 2024. Investigators said he used a piece of handmade string as a ligature to kill the man, the warrant affidavit states. There was also facial trauma to Wohnoutka including a fractured nose discovered by the State Medical Examiner.

During a prisoner accountability count conducted by a corrections officer, Chase displayed the dead man’s body and admitted to killing him, the affidavit states.

Chase has seven prior felony convictions from Beckham County: March 2009, use of vehicle in the discharge of a weapon; March 2011, two counts of uttering a forged instrument; July 2014, assault with a dangerous weapon; February 2019, accessory to a felony; and February 2020, battery/assault and battery on a police officer and possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute, records indicate.

Davenport’s allegations

Davenport is accused of stabbing cellmate Raymond Bailey to death on Oct. 26, 2023. Following the incident, Davenport refused to speak to investigators but his clothing that was collected was covered in blood and a sharpened metal instrument was collected from the known Gangster Disciples member, the affidavit states.

Security video showed Davenport take a trash can into his cell earlier in the morning and then, shortly before 8 a.m., placing Bailey’s property by the front door the cell and moved the trash can down the stairs to the front door. Inside the trash can was Bailey who had multiple stab wounds to his head, neck and back. his feet and hands were found and he was gagged the affidavit states.

Davenport has prior felony convictions: Oklahoma County, May 2013, two counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, larceny of an automobile, and knowingly receiving/concealing/withholding stolen property; Cleveland County: December 2020, first-degree burglary, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and larceny from a house; and September 2021, aggravated assault and battery against a corrections officer, records indicate.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Davenport and Chase are now housed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.