Manslaughter, murder accessory, child sex abuse trials close trial docket

The fourth and final week begins Monday with a final crop of potential jurors being called to duty for the felony docket in Comanche County.

This week’s trials include manslaughter, accessory to murder, and child sexual abuse trials in the spotlight.

All cases are subject to change with any potential last-minute pleas or continuance.

On Monday, a 30-year-old convicted killer will begin trial in Comanche County Presiding Judge Emmit Tayloe’s court for being an accessory in another that happened the same day.

Tevin Jamal Anderson will be on trial for a count of accessory to first-degree murder for the April 18, 2021, shooting death of Richard E. Anderson, 49, of Lawton.

Zaire Ameri Brown, 19, of Lawton, pleaded guilty to felony counts of first-degree murder — deliberate intent, and possession of a firearm after delinquent adjudication in June 2023, and received 25 years in prison for the murder count and another five years for the gun charge, records indicate.

Brown shot and killed Richard Anderson outside Phillips 66, 1202 Cache Road. According to investigators who viewed the store security video, a verbal argument between Tevin and Richard Anderson and another man escalated.

Police said the video shows Brown walking up behind Richard Anderson and shooting him several times in the back and neck.

In January 2023, Tevin Anderson was found guilty of the premeditated shooting death of Jennifer Gibson, 47, on the morning of April 18, 2021. He also was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm; Anderson was on probation for a federal weapons charge at the time of the killing.

During his police interviews, Anderson admitted to shooting Gibson to death. He’d told Zair Brown, of his intent to kill Gibson, who was his cousin’s girlfriend.

“God told me to do that … God told me, she’s the devil,” he said. “My mind was playing tricks on me.”

District Judge Jay Walker’s courtroom will begin jury selection Tuesday for a father accused of allowing their 3-year-old daughter to die from a 17-pound tumor in January 2019.

Henry Clarence Lilly III, 54, will begin trial for a count of first-degree manslaughter. The crime is punishable by between four years to life in prison.

Henry Lilly and his wife, Bonnie Beth Mills-Lilly, 46, was also charged with her husband with the same crime.

The two are accused of not providing medical care to their daughter, which led to her death, according to the charges.

According to the State Medical Examiner’s autopsy report, the child, Bonnie Beth Lilly died Jan. 3, 2019, as a result of rhabdomyosarcoma. Her manner of death was identified as natural. The report states the 17-pound tumor comprised half the girl’s body weight.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a type of cancer of soft tissue (such as muscle), connective tissue (such as tendon or cartilage), or bone. Its symptoms include: a persistent lump or swelling in parts of the body; bulging of the eye or a swollen eyelid, headache and nausea, trouble urinating or having bowel movements, blood in the urine, and bleeding from the nose, throat, vagina or rectum.

The Comanche County Sheriff’s Office received a call on Jan. 3, 2019, about the girl being unconscious but breathing at a camper home near Lake Lawtonka. Responders found her and six other children living with her parents, the Lillys, in a camper. The girl was taken to a local hospital where she died.

The parents were arrested and their other children placed into DHS custody.

The couple had been free on $60,000 bonds but following recommitment to jail in January 2021, they were freed in March 2021 on a reduced $40,000 bond. The couple have since moved to Archer, Fla.

Bonnie Beth Mills-Lilly is expected to stand trial during the upcoming April/May jury trial docket.

District Judge Scott D. Meaders’ court will begin seating its jury Wednesday for the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

James Joseph Jones, 40, will be on trial for two felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16, records indicate. The crime is punishable by between three to 20 years behind bars.

The teen girl told her mother that Jones sexually assaulted her in October 2022, the warrant affidavit states.

The girl told investigators that while her mother was at work, Jones would “make her do things she did not want to do,” police said. She said he’d touched and kiss her body inappropriately several times, according to the affidavit.

Jones has a prior felony conviction in Comanche County from January 2009 to a count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, records indicate.

Jones has been held on $75,000 bond since his initial court appearance in April 2023.