Police identify remains found in west Tulsa, one man arrested

TULSA, Okla. —

UPDATE (02/14; 2:21 p.m.) — Tulsa Police announced the remains found belonged to Steve Wilkins, 55. Wilkins’ family has been notified and police are still investigating the cause of the incident.

Tulsa Police (TPD) have made an arrest in connection to the human remains found inside of a shed in west Tulsa on Thursday.

On Monday, Devin Scrivner, 26, was arrested on first degree murder after witnesses claimed he was involved in the death of the person whose remains were discovered near Charles Page Boulevard and South 49th West Avenue.

Documents claim Tulsa Fire Department (TFD) responded to a fire in a shed at this same location in September 2022, but did not find the body at that time.

Investigators discovered someone was living in the shed, which was actually a garage apartment, at the time of the fire.

On Sept. 14, 2022 at around 5:30 a.m., TFD responded to the shed fire, they said.

Tulsa Fire said neighbors told crews the person who lived in the shed was seen leaving on a bike earlier and if the bike wasn’t there, the resident wouldn’t be there either.

They said, despite extensive search efforts, crews did not find the resident.

When the remains were found on Thursday and taken in for examination, a bullet entry was found in the back of the skull of the victim.

A Tulsa woman found the remains while searching for her cat in the area. She spoke to FOX23 Monday evening about the experience.

“I wish I wouldn’t have found it, but I’m glad I did,” she said. “Because if it wasn’t me, who knows how long it would have been down there.”

On Monday, police found Scrivner at a residence in the same neighborhood.

Scrivner told investigators he and two other people were with the victim the night of the incident.

Documents claim Scrivner told detectives the other suspects were confronting the victim about inappropriate contact he had made with women in the neighborhood and proceeded to beat him.

Scrivner said he also beat the victim and stabbed him with a small pocket knife.

Afterward, he said one of the other suspects then shot the victim in the back of the head with a handgun.

Scrivner said one of the other suspects demanded his clothing after the incident and proceeded to burn them, but he did not witness the burning of the garage.

According to court documents, witnesses who were found said one of the suspects stated he had to return to the scene to fix any mistakes.

Police said they are still investigating.

“They’re looking for two other suspects,” explained Tulsa Police Public Information Officer Danny Bean. “They’re doing what they do ... hopefully [police] will have [another] arrest coming soon or some more information on what happened.”

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