Jury trials end with decisions in trial docket’s first two days

The first of a four-week Comanche County jury trial docket has gotten underway with two cases completed by Tuesday evening.

Jurors were selected Monday to determine the fate of a an apartment maintenance man already found guilty of sexual battery of a tenant for allegations of sexually assaulting a co-worker and a tenant.

Following two days of testimony and deliberation in in District Judge Jay Walker’s court, Detravius Jarelle Bell, 42, of Lawton, was found not guilty of counts of forcible sodomy, rape by instrumentation and first-degree rape by force or fear.

The forcible sodomy case stemmed from a co-worker’s allegations that between October 2019 and Aug. 31, 2021, Bell was accused of forcing her to perform oral sex on him at least once, according to the charge. She said over the prior two years, Bell had badgered and tried to force her to do sexual acts for so long she “felt like she had no choice,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

She told investigators he often would approach her while she was alone cleaning an empty apartment. She said on at least three occasions, Bell forced himself on her, to include sexual intercourse.

The woman said she was afraid to tell anyone because she feared “no one would believe her,” the affidavit states. She told investigators she was ready to come forward after learning a tenant at the apartments had a similar accusation against Bell.

The tenant’s allegations resulted in the sexual battery charge.

According to the affidavit, Bell made a sexual comment to her while she was standing on her balcony with her roommate, and he was sitting in a golf cart below her.

The woman also said Bell had come to her apartment later that day to fix a damaged ceiling. When he finished, she said he walked up behind her while she was in the kitchen and grabbed her buttocks before fondling her inappropriately, the affidavit states.

The apartment complex has not been identified in court records.

Following a non-jury trial in June 2023, Bell was found guilty by District Judge Scott D. Meaders of a felony count of sexual battery in a separate case. He was sentenced to five years with the Department of Corrections with one year to serve and four years suspended.

Following one day of trail, Edward Renardo Brown, 51, of Lawton, was found guilty in Chief District Judge Grant Sheperd’s court of a felony count of second-degree burglary. He received a sentence of 10 years in prison and received credit for time served, 1,447 days or just under four years.

Brown is also slated to go to trial for a felony charge of first-degree manslaughter, records indicate. He is charged, along with Markie Ishman and Calvin Riss for the Aug. 16, 2023, death of Matthew David Jones while housed at the Comanche County Detention Center.

A 21-year-old Lawton man is slated to plead guilty and receive his judgment and sentence in Walker’s courtroom for felony counts of conspiracy to commit use of a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon, felony discharging a firearm into a dwelling and gang-related offense.

Micha Elijah Kopaddy will enter his plea before Cotton County Associate District Judge Michael C. Flanagan.

Kopaddy and Leandre Johnson, 22, of Lawton, were accused of an Aug. 17, 2021, incident where gunfire happened at a local restaurant.

According to the warrant affidavits, Kopaddy was in Buffalo Wild Wings, 2506 Cache Road, on Aug. 17, where he ran into a man he’d been arguing with. He is accused of going out to a car where Johnson waited. When the other man left the restaurant several gunshots came his way, striking his car.

The nearby Rib Crib restaurant was also struck by bullets. No one was injured by gunfire.

Security video captured the incident.

Johnson’s car and the intended victim’s car crashed and Johnson’s car lost its front bumper. Police located the car at a home in Lawton.

According to the affidavit, a witness admitted to picking up Johnson and Kopaddy after the shooting.

Johnson pleaded guilty to counts of felony discharging a firearm into a dwelling and possession of a firearm after former felony conviction in May 2023. He received 10 years to serve and 10 suspended for the first count and five years to serve and five years suspended on the second count with his sentences to be served consecutively, records indicate.