SALLISAW – A vagrant was charged Wednesday in a third fatal shooting in Oklahoma after a bullet comparison linked him to the death of an El Reno man.
Stacy Lee Drake, 50, faces three counts of first-degree murder in Sequoyah County District Court.
He was arrested on June 20 in Morrilton, Arkansas, after a manhunt. That same day, he was charged with murder for shooting two employees at LaFerry’s Propane near Gans, Oklahoma. The victims were identified as Tara Underwood, 35, and Taylor Sharp, 30. They were gunned down in the store on June 18.
Prosecutors amended the existing case on Wednesday, charging Drake with murder in the El Reno death of Phillip Emerson. He was also charged with robbery for allegedly stealing a 1994 pickup truck from Emerson.
The victim in El Reno was 56 years old. His son found his body in his home on June 14.
More: ‘Armed and dangerous’ man Stacy Lee Drake in custody after manhunt and murders in Oklahoma
“We will consider all possible penalties, including the death penalty,” said Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp.
Drake became a suspect in the fatal shooting at the propane plant after surveillance video was reviewed. According to a court affidavit, he was seen entering and exiting the building and driving away in a victim’s vehicle.
A senior criminalist with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation identified the bullets found in Emerson’s and Taylor’s skulls as “fired from the same weapon,” the affidavit states. The pickup truck taken from Emerson in El Reno was found about four miles from LaFerry’s Propane.
Drake was charged not in Canadian County but in Sequoyah County because he is accused of a number of repeated offenses.
“Oklahoma law allows any crime on a defendant’s criminal record to be prosecuted in any county where those crimes were committed,” Thorp said. “This man’s senseless and violent acts have affected people across the state.”
Drake is also accused in Alabama of killing 62-year-old Alcoholics Anonymous counselor Russell Andrews on or about May 14. A warrant for his arrest on May 15 was issued for murder.
