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| Sledge
Found Guilty, Sentenced To Life
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| by Camille Hunt,
GCG Investigative Reporter
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| November 2nd, 2007 - Chickasha, OK. - Andrea
Sledge was found guilty today for the murder of Maurice Givens.
Givens was a blind man that was bound and blockaded
in his bedroom after being doused with a flammable
liquid which lead to his fiery death. The following is a chronological report leading up to the
dramatic verdict.
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Monday, October 22nd, The jury was selected on the case of
Andrea Sledge, who has been charged with second degree murder
for starting the fire that caused the death of Maurice Givens in
his Avalon Apartment on September 25, 2006. They have been
listening to testimony in the case since.
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Tuesday, October 23rd, The jury heard from
prosecution witnesses including Mr. Givens’ neighbor Dennis
McKay, Lawton Fire Chief Bart Hadley, Jr., and Paramedic Josh
Pearcy. Hadley was visiting Chickasha’s Chief Fire &
Safety and Chickasha Fire Department when the call came for the
apartment blaze. Hadley
entered the residence without protective gear when he was told
that someone was still inside. According to his testimony, he
said he got low and used a left hand technique to navigate his
way through the smoke. He testified that he had to leave the
burning apartment for more air. On his second trip inside, he
moved a cabinet blocking the door of Givens’ bedroom that he
found on his first trip in. He testified he called to the victim
but did not hear a response. He needed to exit again for more
air and returned a third time, this time with his Assistant
Chief, Dewayne Burk. The firefighters located the victim and
removed him from the residence.
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Paramedic Pearcy testified that he found a
phone cord wrapped around Givens’ ankles and informed Grady
Memorials ER staff of his finding when he delivered Mr. Givens
to the emergency room.
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Wednesday, October 24th,
Detective Lewis Roller of the Chickasha Police Department took
the stand and testified that when he first questioned Andrea
Sledge she identified herself as Maritza Wallace. He stated he
learned her real identity the next day and attempted to locate
her and bring her in for questioning. Detective Roller stated
that Sledge had tried to catch a bus out of town but had missed
the departure. The police were notified the next day that Sledge
had returned to the bus stop and was waiting for a bus bound for
Oklahoma City. Two officers from Chickasha Police Department,
Officers Thompson and Mabry testified that they found Ms. Sledge
at the bus station and transported her to the Police Department.
Officer Thompson stated that when he searched the backseat of
his patrol car after removing Ms. Sledge, he found a baggie
underneath the seat that tested positive for methamphetamines
and charged her with possession and booked her into the
jail.
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Thursday, October 25th,
Agent Sellars with the State Fire Marshall’s Office testified
that it appeared that an accelerant was on or near Mr. Givens.
She also stated that the burn pattern on the front of the
cabinet was consistent with the testimony of the firefighters
and that it had been used to block the door to Mr. Givens’
bedroom.
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Friday, October 26th,
Judge Van Dyck delayed the trial after being informed that
defense attorney, Myra Bell, was having health problems.
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Monday, October 29th, Ms. March continued calling
witnesses for the prosecution including J. Douglas Perkins, a
trace evidence specialist, who took the stand and testified that
the liquid substance found on the victim’s clothing and
bedding, as well as on the living room floor, was probably lamp
oil or torch oil as it was heavy and greasy.
He explained why the substance wasn’t a skin care
product or insecticide, as the defense had suggested, explaining
that if the liquid was a insecticide it would have evaporated
quickly and his equipment would not have been able to detect the
substance. The State also called OSBI Criminalist D. McDowell
who testified that she had identified the substance found by
police officers after removing Ms. Sledge from the patrol car as
in fact methamphetamine.
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Tuesday, October 30th, Grady Memorial Emergency
Room nurse Harris, testified that she was the person who untied
the phone cord from Mr. Givens’ ankles in the emergency room.
She testified that the phone cord was tied around each ankle
individually and then tied together between his ankles.
She stated that she didn’t think the victim had tangled
himself in the cord as the cord was tied much like one would tie a
knot in a shoestring. Also testifying on this day was Medical
Examiner Duvall. Dr. Duvall testified that Mr. Givens died from
complications from his burns. He also stated that Mr. Givens had a
injury to the back of his head that was consistent with blunt
force trauma but that the injury was not the cause of death. Ms.
Bell asked Dr. Duvall if Mr. Givens could have been the victim of
an explosion and he stated there was not any evidence that Mr.
Givens had injuries from an explosion.
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Wednesday October 31st, Mr. Ricky Brown took the
stand. He is the owner of Brown & Christian Funeral Home of
Chickasha and the City of Guthrie’s former Fire Chief. Brown
criticized the actions of Fire Chief Hadley in his rescue of Mr.
Givens saying that a trained professional would not enter a
burning structure to save a person without the proper protective
gear. ADA Lesley
March only had praise for the firefighters calling them heroes.
Mr. Brown went on to state that he would not rely on the testimony
of anyone who had been inside the structure without protection as
he said it would affect someone’s memory due to the lack of
oxygen reaching the brain. Ms. March, in a successful attempt to discredit the witness,
then brought up the fact that Mr. Brown himself had been convicted
earlier this year of a bogus check charge in the amount of $200
and did not pay his fully pay his debt on the charge. Ms. March
said the charge was a crime of dishonesty. Ms. March also cross
examined Lawton’s Assistant Fire Chief Burk who testified that
his Chief did not appear disoriented or confused from the smoke
and was able to give accurate directions to Burk so that he could
find Mr. Givens inside the apartment.
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Thursday, November 1st, Andrea Sledge took the
stand in her defense. Ms. Sledge tried to justify giving police a
fake name when interviewed by police stating that she was afraid
there was a warrant out for her arrest for not following a
previous court order. She also denied tying Mr. Givens feet with
the phone cord, pouring an accelerant on or near him, barricading
the door with the cabinet or starting the fire inside the
apartment. The
defense rested and the prosecution did not call any rebuttal
witnesses.
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Friday,
November 2nd,
The jury took the case into deliberations at noon. Shortly before
4 pm today we were informed that the jury found Andrea Sledge
guilty and sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of
parole. Justice prevailed.
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