The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office filed first-degree murder charges against two brothers accused in the execution-style killings of four women at a south Tulsa apartment last month.
Rebeika Powell, 23, Kayeie Powell Melchor, 23, Misty Nunley, 33, and Julie Jackson, 55, were bound and shot at the Fairmont Terrace Apartments near E. 61st St. and S. Peoria Ave. January 7.
Police say robbery was the motive that led Cedric Dwayne Poore, 39, and his brother James Stanford Poore, 32, to shoot and kill the four women.
In a statement to KRMG, First Asst. D.A. Doug Drummond said “Filing charges is the first step in our effort to obtain justice for each of these victims, their families and the community. As in any case, both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty. At the appropriate time, the District Attorney’s Office must present evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
The D.A. has also filed four robbery with a firearm charges against each man.
Both men have a background of violent crime, KRMG has learned.
Cedric Poore received a 35-year sentence for armed robbery in 1995, but was paroled.
James Poore pleaded guilty to a string of convenience store robberies and was sentenced to 12 years in prison plus five years suspended.
The murder counts could result in a death sentence if the men are convicted.
Drummond says his office will determine whether to seek the death penalty "at some point after the preliminary hearing."
The maximum penalty for robbery with a firearm is a life sentence, with the possibility of parole.