Manslaughter, sex crimes top first week of jury trial docket

A manslaughter case tops the first week of the April/May jury trial docket, which begins Monday in Comanche County.

This week marks the second four-week docket of trials this year, a departure from past years where jury trials were three weeks at a time for three sessions. Officials have said this year’s new schedule of four four-week sessions is intended to ease the backlog of cases awaiting trial.

Jurors and those attending the trials will be working around the initial week of elevator repairs at the courthouse. There will only be one working elevator available for the next 26 weeks.

This first week’s trials include three higher-profile cases.

Jurors will be called Monday to Comanche County Chief District Judge Grant Sheperd’s court for the trial of a man accused of causing the March 6, 2022, death of Billy Moore.

Aaron Kennard Koomsa Jr., 40, of Lawton, will be on trial for a charge first-degree manslaughter, records indicate. The charge is punishable by up to life in prison.

Koomsa is accused of stabbing Moore, 50, of Lawton, to death March 7, 2022. Police conducting a welfare check of Moore found him dead at 4224 SW Summit. He had gone to a neighbor’s door and asked for help before falling into the apartment. Police also found a beaten and bloodied Koomsa lying on the floor next to the body.

Koomsa told police he’d walked home from a club and went to a store to buy some beer, according to the probable cause affidavit. He said Moore had yelled at the clerk and he offered him some of his beer in exchange for a cigarette. He said Moore then gave him a ride to his home on Summit.

After telling Moore to leave, Koomsa told investigators they began fighting over a knife and at some point, Koomsa said he had it, stabbed Moore in the chest and they fell to the floor with Koomsa landing on top of Moore. He also said he stabbed Moore in the stomach with what he called a “stab and slice,” the affidavit states.

Koomsa has been in jail on $75,000 bond since his March 15, 2022, initial court appearance.

A trial is scheduled to begin Monday in District Judge Jay Walker’s courtroom for a former Comanche County Detention officer accused of sexually assaulting a female inmate while he was on the job.

Kevin Warren Buttler, 50, of Lawton, will begin trial for a felony count of forcible sodomy, records indicate. He was originally charged with second-degree rape before charges were amended in March.

Buttler was arrested in August 2022 following an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) investigation following the inmate’s reporting of the incident.

The inmate stated that Buttler came into her cell to deliver lunch and while inside her cell, he unzipped his pants and motioned for her to come over to him and perform a sexual act, the OSBI stated. She said she was performing the sexual act for about five seconds when Buttler heard a noise and zipped up his pants, according to the probable cause affidavit. The inmate’s cellmate was present during the incident.

Buttler has been free on $15,000 bond since Feb. 28, records indicate.

On Friday, Walker’s court will hold a trial for a 25-year-old man accused of stalking and sexually battering a woman outside a Lawton daycare in July 2022.

Darrell Jerome Graham, of Lawton, will be on trial for a felony count of sexual battery, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Graham is accused of following a woman in July 2022,  from Walmart, 6301 Quanah Parker Trailway, and then to a daycare in the 2100 block of Northwest 38th Street.

Video footage showed Graham following the woman while she was in the store with her mother as well as following her into the parking lot, the probable cause affidavit states. Footage of her arriving at the daycare also showed Graham showing up moments later, according to investigators.

The woman and her child left the daycare and as she put the child into the vehicle, Graham was seen taking photos of the woman with his cellphone camera, the affidavit states. The camera showed him run up behind the woman and grab her from behind before running back to his vehicle, dropping his phone and picking it up on the way, the video showed.

Graham has been free on $30,000 bond since November 2022, records indicate.