Lawton man pleads guilty to murder charge

A Lawton man will serve the rest of his life in prison for the 2023 murder of Clayton Stephens.

Tawann Dupree Richardson, a.k.a. “Pooh Butt,” 24, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Comanche County District Court to felony counts of first-degree murder, unlawful removal of a dead body and possession of a firearm after former felony conviction, records indicate.

Chief District Judge Scott D. Meaders followed District Attorney Kyle Cabelka’s recommendation that Richardson serve a life sentence without parole for the murder count, five years for the removal of a dead body charge and 10 years for the gun count, all to be served concurrently.

Richardson also was ordered to pay $17,472.67 in court costs, fines and restitution.

With his guilty plea, Richardson admitted to shooting and killing Stephens, 19, and of leaving him on the side of the road at Southwest 38th Street and Coombs Road the morning of April 9, 2023, Easter Sunday. The two men had been in a sexual relationship, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

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

Richardson fled the state after the issuance of his arrest warrant on April 14, 2023, and was arrested four days later following a high-speed chase outside of Phoenix, Ariz.

Richardson has been in jail on $1 million bond following his initial court appearance on May 3, 2023.

Investigators said Richardson joined Isaiah Durant Carpenter, 21, in a Jan. 9 attempted escape from the Comanche County Detention Center. The two men are accused of assaulting detention officers with pepper spray and their fists and one guard lost her finger during the incident.

Carpenter, who is in jail for a second-degree murder charge, received two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of discharging pepper spray against an officer, attempting to escape jail, conspiracy to commit escape from jail and kidnapping, records indicate. Richardson has not been charged for the incident.

Richardson has two prior felony convictions: Comanche County, May 2018, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; and Wichita County, Texas, April 2022, aggravated robbery, records indicate.

At the time of Stephens’ killing, Richardson was on probation for the Texas case. He’d been released to Cheyenne Rehabilitation Center in Houston, Texas, in March 2023 and never reported into the Lawton Probation and Parole office for probation supervision, according to court documents.