Oklahomans were shocked and appalled when a jogger in Duncan was shot and killed in a random act of violence in August 2013. When police arrested three suspects in the murder of Australian Christopher Lane, a baseball player at East Central University in Ada, the case became even more horrifying. Lane was allegedly killed by three teenagers, aged 15, 16, and 17. One of the suspects gave a motive that undermined the senselessness of the killing. He allegedly told police, "We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody." Lane became a target simply because he jogged by.
Ultimately, four people were charged in connection with the crime: the three teens who were present and another man, who was accused of concealing the murder weapon. The three teens were all charged with first degree murder, but that charge was dismissed against the youngest suspect when he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. James Francis Edwards, Jr., now 17, is charged as a juvenile with accessory to murder. Edwards says he was present when the killing took place, but he that he did not know his friends were planning to kill someone.
The murder cases against the other two teen suspects are still pending. Chancey Allen Luna, now 17, and Michael Dewayne Jones, now 19, are both charged with first degree murder. Luna is accused of firing the shot that killed Lane, and Jones is accused of driving the vehicle from which the drive-by shooting was committed.
While Edwards, Luna, and Jones await the resolution of their cases, a fourth suspect associated with the murder has been sentenced for his role.
Oddesse John David Barnes, 23, pleaded guilty on Friday to being an accessory to murder after the fact. Barnes was suspected of hiding the weapon used to kill Lane at Luna's direction. Although Barnes initially denied having ever seen the gun, he later admitted that Luna gave him the weapon and asked him to hide it. Barnes said he then threw the gun into some tall grass and never saw it again.
Barnes's guilty plea came as the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Under 21 O.S. � 175, being an accessory to first degree murder is punishable by 5 to 45 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, district attorneys agreed not to prosecute drug distribution charges against him stemming from a 2013 meth distribution case. As a result of his guilty plea, Barnes is sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by 13 years of probation.
