(Stillwater, Okla.) — District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas has filed two first-degree manslaughter charges in connection with a head-on collision on Highway 33 six miles west of Perkins that killed two Stillwater women who taught in the Guthrie school system.
An arrest warrant was issued last week for Rocky Steven Baca, 37, of Midwest City, who was not yet in custody this morning, court records show.
Baca was allegedly under the influence of an intoxicating substance or substances while driving east in the westbound lane of Highway 33 in a no-passing zone when his mini-van collided head-on with a Ford Focus carrying the Guthrie teachers at 7:14 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2014, according to the two-count charge filed last week.
The victims were identified as Jennifer Lea Briggs, 24, who was driving the Ford Focus and taught seventh grade English at Guthrie Junior High School, and Heather Marie Wilson, 27, who was her passenger and taught eighth grade English, authorities said.
Both women were pinned in their vehicle for about two hours before being freed by the Coyle Fire Department. They died at the scene, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Baca was transported from the scene by helicopter to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City to be treated for his injuries, OHP Trooper Anthony Harper wrote in an affidavit filed last week.
During an inventory of his mini-van, “Trooper Clancy Williams discovered a lunch box with the subject’s name inscribed on the side, as well as the subject’s work badge hanging on the side in the vehicle,” the affidavit said.
“Trooper Williams noticed a pipe and a package containing a green leafy substance,” which was sent to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for analysis, the affidavit said.
When OHP Lt. James Loftis interviewed the defendant at the OU Medical Center, Loftis said “he fell asleep and admitted to have smoked the green leaf substance (Frankenstein), and taken an over-the-counter sleep aid prior to going to bed at 9-9:15 p.m.,” the affidavit alleged.
“He also stated that he woke up sometime around 3:30-4 a.m. and smoked some more before going to work,” the affidavit alleged.
“According to OSBI lab reports a synthetic marijuana compound, AB-Pinaca, was found in the green leafy substance as well as in his (the defendant’s) blood samples,” the affidavit alleged.
If convicted of two counts of first-degree manslaughter, Baca could be sentenced to two four-year prison terms to as much as two life prison terms, court records show.
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