Cass Rains
CNHI News Service
Enid —
Court documents charging an Enid man as an accessory after the
fact in an Oklahoma City murder, identify another man believed to be
responsible for the last murder in Enid.
In addition, documents show the man claiming credit for the Enid killing
said he “shot the wrong person.”
Ivan Alexander Williamson, 21, was charged last week in Garfield County
District Court with accessory after the fact, which is punishable by five to
45 years in prison, in connection with an October murder in Oklahoma City,
documents show.
On Dec. 22, Enid Police Department received a 911 call at about 2:18 a.m. of
an unresponsive man in a house in the 300 block of East Columbia.
Twenty-four-year-old Heath Crites was found shot multiple times and lying in
the living room of the residence, located east of Enid Cemetery and south of
the Garfield County Fairgrounds.
EPD Capt. Jack Morris said the murder remains under investigation. No
arrests have been made in connection to the Enid murder.
“At this point, we are looking at a person of interest,” he said. “The
investigation is ongoing, and we are waiting on search warrants to be
executed and other information to be obtained.”
According to an affidavit filed in the case against Williamson, Oklahoma
City Police Department detectives were investigating an Oct. 20, 2012,
murder in which someone was shot with a Taurus .45-caliber handgun. During
their investigation, they learned Ronnie Fuston was their suspect. A warrant
was issued and he was arrested Jan. 9 in Oklahoma City.
In Oklahoma County, Fuston was charged Jan. 17 with first-degree murder for
the death of Michael Donnell Rhodes, 42.
Fuston was arrested in connection with the Oct. 20, 2012, shooting death of
Rhodes in northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Police Department Capt.
Dexter Nelson said. Officers found Rhodes’ body at the 9400 block of Eagle
Hill Drive about 11:50 p.m. inside the residence.
Oklahoma City media outlets reported a 3-year-old boy was found with his
body when police arrived.
Court records in the Oklahoma County case list an Oklahoma City address for
Fuston. According to the Garfield County affidavit, however, Enid police
know Fuston previously lived with his mother on East Wabash from past
incidents.
Oklahoma City detectives learned the gun used in the homicide might be
hidden in a vehicle in Enid, according to the affidavit. Detectives came to
Enid searching for the gun and contacted EPD, speaking with Sgt. Randy King.
King told the Oklahoma City detectives the weapon used in the Dec. 22
homicide in Enid also was a Taurus .45-caliber handgun, documents show.
Shell casings from the two crime scenes were compared, and it was determined
they were fired from the same gun, according to the affidavit. The findings
also showed the markings were consistent with a Taurus firearm.
Fuston made a phone call to the 580 area code while in custody in Oklahoma
City. Fuston told the person on the phone to go to his “mama’s” house and
get the “hammers,” which is slang for handguns, according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 11, documents show police spoke with the man Fuston called from
Oklahoma County Jail. He said he spoke with Fuston Jan. 9. After receiving
the call, he contacted another man, who then contacted Williamson about
moving the gun.
Detective Tim Doyle spoke with Williamson Jan. 11 and explained to him he
did not believe he was involved in the Oklahoma City homicide, but believed
he did move the gun after the fact, according to the affidavit.
Doyle told Williamson as long as he was helpful and truthful he would not be
charged. Doyle also explained Enid and Oklahoma City police both needed his
help.
Williamson said he knew where the gun was and took Doyle to 1420 W.
Oklahoma. He said he lives there with his aunt and uncle, and took Doyle to
a vent in the home where he said he had hidden the gun in a shirt, documents
show.
Doyle found a gun wrapped in a navy blue T-shirt. It was a Hi-Point model
JHP .45-caliber black semi-automatic, according to the affidavit. No
ammunition was recovered with the gun.
Doyle spoke with Williamson at the police station, and Williamson said he
received a call Jan. 9 from a man who said Fuston called him and asked him
go to his mother’s house on East Wabash and get “them thangs,” documents
show.
Doyle told Williamson he was under the impression there was more than one
firearm in the house on Wabash. Williamson told Doyle there was only one gun
Jan. 9, and it was the Hi-Point .45. Doyle told Williamson he was certain
Fuston had more than one gun, and Williamson was adamant the only gun he
picked up Jan. 9 was the Hi-Point .45, according to the affidavit.
Williamson told Doyle he used his Facebook account to message the person who
had called him about picking up the gun, and told them he had picked up
“them thangs.” Williamson then gave Doyle access to his Facebook account,
documents show.
According to the affidavit, Doyle took Williamson home, thanked him for his
help and told him if he knew anything else, now was the time to tell him to
avoid charges. Williamson told Doyle he’d already told him everything he
knew.
Doyle returned to the police station and accessed Williamson’s Facebook
account. He located a private message between Williamson and another man
concerning the sale of two .45-caliber handguns. The messages mention a
“torus and a high point” being for sale, documents show.
Doyle returned to Williamson’s home and placed him under arrest on a
complaint of accessory to murder after the fact, according to the affidavit.
Williamson became upset and said he did not know what was going on. Doyle
explained he saw the Facebook conversation concerning the two guns, and told
Williamson he was being arrested because he had not been completely honest
per their agreement, according to the affidavit.
Williamson was taken to an interview room at the station and read his
Miranda rights. Williamson agreed to speak with police.
Williamson said he sold the Taurus .45 to the man he spoke with on Facebook
the night before at a friend’s house, documents show.
Williamson then was interviewed by Oklahoma City detectives. He told them he
obtained the Taurus .45 pistol Jan. 9. He said in the phone call he received
about picking up the guns, he also went and got another gun from a lot at
6th and Ohio, where Fuston keeps his dogs. Williamson said he retrieved the
gun from a broken-down car on the property, according to the affidavit.
After speaking with Oklahoma City detectives, Williamson asked to speak to a
supervisor.
Lt. Mark Blodgett spoke with Williamson, and Williamson said he had been
walking with Fuston in Enid’s Southern Heights neighborhood about two weeks
before, and Fuston told him he shot the man on Columbia, documents show.
Blodgett explained to Williamson he needed to speak with Doyle since he was
investigating the case. Doyle returned to the room.
Williamson said Fuston asked if he had heard about the Enid shooting on
Columbia, according to the affidavit. Williamson said he’d heard about it,
and Fuston pointed to himself and said he had shot the man. According to the
affidavit, Williamson then told Doyle that Fuston said he shot the wrong
person.
Online court records show Fuston, 20, is being held without bond in Oklahoma
County, and a public defender has been tentatively appointed. The case is
set for preliminary hearing this morning.
Williamson is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond and is set for arraignment
on the charge this morning.
