Ex-convict gets 30 years in prison for killing Stillwater man

  STILLWATER — An ex-convict has avoided a first-degree murder trial by pleading guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter in a fatal shooting during an argument inside an apartment in the 1800 block of N. Boomer Road in Stillwater on April 5, 2025.

   Damon Eugene Thomas Sr., 48, of Stillwater, also admitted possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a convicted felon with a firearm in a three-count plea before District Judge Jason Reese, who gave him three concurrent 30-year prison terms as part of a plea bargain on Oct. 20.

   Thomas was arrested in Oklahoma City on April 7, 2025, the day after the victim, Jerry Leon Silas, 43, of Stillwater, died of his injuries in the OU Medical Center, police said. Thomas had been released from prison two years earlier and could have been given three life sentences if convicted at a jury trial.

   According to an affidavit by Stillwater Police Sgt. Kurt Merrill, at 8:45 pm on April 5, 2025, officers were called to an apartment where they found the victim unresponsive with a single gunshot to his head.

   Police interviewed two individuals, “who were present and left the scene with Damon Thomas Sr.,” the affidavit said. The pair said they had been driven to the apartment by another person, with Thomas as a passenger, the affidavit said.

   After the four entered the apartment, there was an argument between Silas and Thomas, the affidavit said. The pair said they “heard a loud bang and saw Silas lying on a coffee table with large amounts of blood coming from his head,” the affidavit said. One of the pair “observed a small semi-automatic pistol with a silver-colored slide and baby blue frame being held by the defendant,” the affidavit said.

   “The defendant then ushered (the pair and the driver) back to the red SUV,” where Thomas pointed the gun at the pair and ordered them to the car saying, ‘they were coming with him or ‘you’re next,” the affidavit said.

   “While in the car, the defendant brandished the firearm and pointed it toward the back seat where (the pair) were seated. The defendant stated that (the pair) would not be allowed out of his sight for several days so he could watch them,” the affidavit said.

   When they got to a convenience store on W. 6th in Stillwater, the defendant went inside to make a purchase, and the pair “fled from the car on foot,” the affidavit said.

   “Stillwater police investigators located a shell casing, bullet (projectile) and corresponding evidence consistent with a firearm being discharged from within the residence where Jerry Silas was found,” the affidavit said.

   After emergency treatment, Silas was transported to the Stillwater Medical Center on April 5, 2025, and then airlifted to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City where he died of his injuries the next day, a police news release said.

   According to court records and the state Department of Corrections, Thomas has a 26-year criminal record including Payne County convictions for cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana possession as well as domestic abuse, eluding a police officer in Kay County, and second-degree burglary in Custer County.