Quinlan Phipps
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 20-year-old Stillwater man has been charged with murdering and burying the body of his teenage acquaintance, who was reportedly stabbed in the throat and hit in the head with a hammer more than a year ago.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Quinlan Matthias Phipps, who was 18 at the time of the Jan. 28, 2023, slaying of 17-year-old Teedeenae “Jackson” Yearby, could be sentenced to death or life in prison. If convicted of desecration of a human corpse, Phipps could be given a seven-year prison term.
Phipps was arrested at 4 pm on April 17, 2024, after he left his older brother’s garage apartment in the 500 block of W. 7th Avenue, Stillwater Police Detective John Paul Johnson wrote in an affidavit filed last week. Phipps remains held without bail pending his arraignment this week.
Six days after the defendant’s arrest, “a joint operation involving officers and detectives from SPD, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Payne County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the recovery of human remains,” that were transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and cause of death, police said.
“Quinlan initially denied killing Yearby, but on 4/18/2024 Quinlan admitted to killing Yearby by stabbing him in the throat and hitting him in the head with a hammer ‘not more than seven times.’ Quinlan said he used a kitchen utility knife to stab Yearby,” the detective alleged in his affidavit.
“Quinan said he killed Yearby because he thought Yearby was going to steal from him and was tired of Yearby living off him. Quinlan said he was not sorry for what he did and did not appear remorseful. Quinlan then admitted to putting Yearby’s body in a black trash bag and pulling it and the mattress outside before going to get (his older brother) for help.
“Quinlan denied dismembering Yearby’s body. Quinlan admitted burying Yearby’s (body) in the woods south of the trailer park. He said he buried Yearby approximately as deep as Quinlan was tall, which is just shy of six feet. Quinlan said he would take us to the burial site, so he was driven to the entrance of Countryside Mobile Home Park off 19th Ave.
“Once there, he puked several times from apparent nerves. From there he led investigators south into the woods. He then led us generally south by southwest. He appeared to be looking for something but was unable find what he was looking for. He was either unwilling or unable to lead us to the body,” the detective alleged in his affidavit.
A week earlier on April 11, 2024, Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers located and interviewed a man who said he was staying the night at a trailer with the defendant’s older brother and two others when the defendant and victim went to another trailer alone, the affidavit alleged. He said, “he was sleeping on the front room couch when Quinlan came back covered in blood. Quinlan admitted to the group that he killed Yearby over being ‘disrespected,” the affidavit alleged.
On April 17, 2024, the sheriff’s investigator, the police investigator, and B.I.A. agent Matthew Ousley interviewed the defendant’s older brother, who said he was asleep when the defendant came back with blood on him and told the group that he killed Yearby, the affidavit alleged. The older brother said the defendant gave him a “bunch of excuses why he killed Yearby,” the affidavit alleged.
The defendant’s older brother said, “he told Quinlan that he was on his own with this ‘problem’ and that (he) was not helping him. (The older brother) denied helping Quinlan dispose of the body or the mattress or cleaning the trailer. (He said) he saw Quinlan walk south toward the woods south of the trailer park. He denied ever being shown exactly where the burial site was,” the affidavit alleged.
During separate interviews, the defendant’s older brother and another man said that “Quinlan has talked about wanting to kill someone for no apparent reason other than the fantasy of knowing what it feels like,” the affidavit alleged.
The victim was reported missing to Stillwater police on Feb. 7, 2023, after “Yearby suddenly failed to contact or reply to his friends and family and failed to return home or show up for work as scheduled, all of which was highly unusual. Yearby was living a transient lifestyle before his disappearance.
“He would stay with different friends or family from night to night as long as he kept in contact weekly with his mother, which abruptly stopped on Jan. 26, 2023. This was also the last day that Yearby was at work where he clocked out,” at 9:12 pm, the affidavit said.
“One of two possible last known living areas for Yearby was a house in Stillwater rented by (the defendant’s older brother) whose younger brother, Quinlan Matthias Phipps was also living there. When I interviewed the brothers, (they) stated that they did not know where Yearby was, but believed he had traveled to the Dallas, Texas area or Marietta, Oklahoma, where he had a connection for a large amount of marijuana.
“During this interview, Quinlan became increasingly hostile and insistent that Yearby could ‘handle himself’ despite being a juvenile and conducting drug deals and that law enforcement didn’t need to look for him,” the police detective wrote in his affidavit.
Yearby was known to always be wearing his favorite jacket and one of two favorite hats, the affidavit said. “Both hats and the jacket were recovered in Stillwater, along with the entirety of Yearby’s known clothing and possessions, by Jacob Wind with a Native American search group on April 15, 2023.
“Based on my training and experience, when minors run away from home they do not leave behind their favorite belongings, and when people voluntarily relocate, they do not leave behind all their clothing and possessions,” the detective wrote in his affidavit.
Several individuals said that they heard the defendant had killed Yearby and disposed of his dismembered body in a wooded area that had previously been searched on April 15, 2023, by a Native American search group without success in locating Yearby, the affidavit alleged.
“On July 5, 2023, I interviewed (a man) who disclosed that on or about March 11, 2023, he was playing basketball with Quinlan. During a break from playing, Quinlan asked (him) if he knew Jackson (Yearby), to which (he) stated that he did. Quinlan then told (him) that he had murdered Yearby. (The man) said that Quinlan did not tell him what he did with Yearby’s body after he murdered him, nor did Quinlan tell (him) how he murdered Yearby. (The man) stated that he did not have anything to do with the murder of Yearby nor the disposal of Yearby’s body,” the detective alleged in his affidavit.
The man said that “several days after Quinlan told (him) about the murder, (Quinlan’s older brother) and Quinlan asked (him) for a ride from Perkins back to Stillwater because neither of them had a vehicle. During the drive, Quinlan was seated in the back seat behind (him) as he drove, when Quinlan suddenly leaned forward and put him in a forcible strangle hold. (He) struggled to fight Quinlan off while maintaining control of the vehicle.
“After fighting Quinlan off, (he) pulled over and kicked Quinlan out of the vehicle. (Quinlan’s older brother) remained in the vehicle as (they) continued on. (The man) asked (Quinlan’s older brother) if Quinlan’s attack was because Quinlan had told (him) about the Yearby homicide and Quinlan now believed he was a risk. (The older brother) told him that he didn’t think that was the case, but (the older brother) told him that Quinlan had become so violent that (the older brother) no longer felt it was safe to live with him,” the affidavit alleged.
