Cushing murder victim’s relatives react to sentence
(Stillwater, Okla.) — Relatives of a slain Cushing woman who was beaten and stomped to death last December expressed relief today that the confessed killer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Seven months after the body of 45-year-old Ava M. King was found in a Cushing alley, Benjamin Joel Andrew Littlesun, 23, of Cushing, pleaded guilty today to first-degree murder in an emotionless voice.
After Littlesun was sentenced to life in prison without parole in accordance with a plea bargain, the slain woman’s niece, Jacky Peabody, told KUSH today, “This isn’t going to bring Ava back, but at least it can be the beginning of my family’s healing.”
“Our family is very thankful for the law enforcement officers involved, for their services, and to Tom (District Attorney Tom Lee) for this conclusion, for all of his work,” Peabody emphasized.
Jessica King, another niece of the murdered woman, said, “We are thankful for the community’s involvement and support — and all the law enforcement officers.”
The slain woman’s sister, Cheri Wilkins, expressed frustration that Littlesun will continue in prison to have the opportunity to communicate with his relatives — while the family of the murdered woman will not be able to talk to Ava King.
“I don’t understand how he still gets the privileges of seeing his family and talking to them — having that connection that we don’t have anymore. I wish I could do something to change his privileges,” Wilkins said.
The slain woman’s sister-in-law, Deana King, added, “We don’t get those privileges. We don’t get that last time to say ‘I love you."”
The murdered woman “will never see her grandson that will be born this week. The long-term effect on this family will continue,” Deana King said.
The victim’s family supported the plea bargain for life in prison without parole — saving them from having to go through repeated appeals, she told KUSH.
District Attorney Tom Lee said that he was “very satisfied” that the victim’s family would not have to experience a painful trial.
Cushing Police Chief Terry Brannon told KUSH, “We’re certainly satisfied with the outcome this morning. This allows the King family to continue the healing process,” as well as helping the Littlesun family and the community to begin that process.
“My heart goes out to the King family. My heart goes out to the Littlesun family — they’ve lost a son, a brother, a grandson — they too are grieving,” the police chief added.
Brannon said, “I want to commend the officers from the Cushing Police Department and the OSBI — they did a wonderful job of being a strong voice for Ava King that morning.”
Looking back on his career in law enforcement, Brannon called the murder “the worst I’ve seen, the horrific nature by which she was beaten.”
The Cushing police chief said that when the slain woman’s body was found, “It was overwhelming, not knowing who she was — so we could find out who had done this.”
Emphasizing law enforcement officers were “serving as a voice for her,” Brannon said, “We got excellent cooperation from our own staff in collaboration with the OSBI — that led to this case being solved. We actually had dispatchers come in off duty to man the command post.”
The murdered woman’s body was found by Cushing resident John Sheridan the morning after she was beaten and stomped in an alley behind the Cushing tag agency. Sheridan testified in a preliminary hearing that he assists his wife in the tag agency and called Cushing police.
Cushing Police Officer Carson Watts, who was called to the scene at 7:30 a.m. Dec. 2, 2011, said that he saw a female lying in the alley nude from the waist down, with two shirts on, both pulled up.
Watts testified in a preliminary hearing that she had such severe facial trauma he couldn’t recognize a face. He said he felt a slight pulse.
“I said, ‘maam, maam,’ and her head moved to the left. I asked, ‘maam, maam, can you tell me what happened?’ Her head moved one more time, but not again,” after that, Watts testified in the preliminary hearing.
Watts called for emergency medical personnel and other officers to come to the crime scene, which he photographed with a digital camera and also with his dash cam video. She was taken to the Cushing hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent Richard Brown testified in the preliminary hearing that he interviewed Littlesun on audiotape at the Cushing Police Department on Dec. 2, 2011.
Littlesun had been spotted walking in front of the Wilshire Inn by Cushing Police Officer Matt Piatt, who arrested him on an outstanding Creek County warrant, according to preliminary hearing testimony.
The OSBI agent testified that Littlesun said “him and a cousin of his decided to go to the Buckhorn Bar to hang out and drink.”
Littlesun said that he did not know King, and that when he left the bar, she said she needed a ride home, the OSBI agent testified.
“He said he went to his pickup. He said they drank a bottle of alcohol. He said she removed her clothes and started having sex. He said she said she can’t do this. She exits the vehicle still naked from the waist down,” Littlesun claimed, the OSBI agent testified.
“He said that he caught up with her about Cleveland Street and offered her a ride home. He said she slapped him and spit in his face. He said he punched her twice. He said he took his foot and stomped her 20 to 25 times about her face.
“He said he thought her breathing was unusual. Her chest was going in. He said he went out of the alley. He said he ran back to the bar, got his cousin and they left.
“He said he kept her (King’s) driver’s license. He thought he’d give it back to her later.
“He disclosed that the boots he was wearing he threw on top of a church in Cushing,” where according to court testimony they were later found. He said that clothing was put in a dumpster, the OSBI agent testified.
On cross-examination from court-appointed defense attorney Peter Astor, the OSBI agent testified, “I was advised prints were lifted from the scene that matched Mr. Littlesun’s.”
The OSBI had been called by the Cushing police chief to assist in the murder investigation.
Cushing Police dispatcher/jailer Richard Thompson testified in the preliminary hearing that when he booked Littlesun into the city jail shortly before 6 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2011, he found an ID that belonged to Ava King,” which he showed to Officer Piatt
When the district attorney filed court documents seeking the death penalty for Littlesun, he noted that in addition to the violent nature of the slaying, Littlesun allegedly possessed a homemade knife while an inmate in the Payne County Jail and “expressed his intentions to use it on jail staff in general and Detention Officer Ryan Clopton in particular.”
“There is additional evidence detailing the defendant’s participation in other unrelated crimes showing his violent criminal behavior in that this defendant has admitted he used a knife to stab an individual in the chest and stomach area in Pawnee County, Oklahoma,” the DA alleged in court documents.
Littlesun, who has been held without bail in the Payne County Jail since his arrest on the day the victim’s body was found, would like to be transported to state prison as soon as possible, his court-appointed attorney told the judge in court today.
About three and one-half months before Littlesun was charged in the Cushing slaying, he pleaded guilty to placing a body fluid on a government employee while he was a prisoner in Lincoln County, court records show.
For that 2011 crime, Littlesun was given a two-year sentence, all of which was suspended except 30 days in jail, as part of a plea bargain in which he also pleaded guilty to public intoxication, court records show.
Two years before the Cushing slaying, Littlesun was charged in Creek County with bringing contraband into the jail, which was dismissed since he was already in state prison, court records show.
Littlesun had been out of prison for 15 months when he was charged in the Cushing woman’s slaying, state Department of Corrections records show.
He had served less than nine months for possession of a stolen vehicle in Drumright in 2008 and possession of a stolen vehicle in Cushing in 2009, DOC records show.
Littlesun has a long history of substance abuse, according to an Offender Accountability Plan prepared in 2009 under the Delayed Sentencing Program For Young Adults in his stolen vehicle case in Cushing.
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