Terrell Eugene Williams
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Payne County jury composed of seven men and five women deliberated for three and one-half hours Thursday before convicting a Stillwater man of first-degree manslaughter in a fatal rear-end collision on Highway 51 on the westside of Stillwater in 2020.
The jury, which acquitted 23-year-old Terrell Eugene Williams of driving under the influence of drugs, found him guilty of an alternative count of causing the death of 38-year-old Cody Ryan Barlow of Glencoe while driving on a revoked license and recommended he be imprisoned for 15 years for manslaughter.
At the close of his four-day trial, Williams, who was 19 at the time of the fatal crash, was ordered jailed without bail pending his sentencing on Aug. 23 before District Judge Phillip Corley.
The victim, who had lethal injuries to his neck, brain and spinal cord, died in the OU Medical Center four days after his GMC Sierra, which had its brakes on, was rear-ended by Williams’ 2008 Lexus estimated traveling at 101 mph at 4:26 am on Oct. 5, 2020, on Highway 51 in Stillwater city limits at 4700 W. 6th Ave, witnesses testified.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Jose Villarreal reminded jurors, “The defendant’s Lexus went underneath the truck with such force that it propelled the truck all the way through the intersection. When the truck hit the curb of the intersection, it flew and nose-dived, fell on its side.
“We talked about marijuana was found in the car. It affects depth perception, time and distance. He was driving on revocation. He hit Cody Barlow from behind, who was stopped. There is a conflict about how fast Terrell Williams was going. Who’s at fault in a rear-end collision? The truck had its brakes on. Use your common sense.”
But defense attorney Royce Hobbs urged the jury in his closing argument, “The state has the duty to preserve data in event recording devices in both vehicles. We don’t have the Barlow event data recorder. Mr. Barlow could have hit the accelerator not the brake. We don’t know because we don’t have the data recorder. They (police) come into this courtroom with ‘we found marijuana.’
“He (Williams) had marijuana present (in his system),” the defense attorney admitted, but emphasized that scientists have not determined an amount that impairs. “He told you (when he testified) the last time he had done anything, by his account it was 12 hours,” the defense attorney told the jury.
In the final closing argument, prosecutor J.R. Kalka said, “This defendant had two different narcotics in his blood, both of which he admits using. He was under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana. Folks don’t slam into the back of a car at 101 mph at 4:30 in the morning unless they’re intoxicated. He remembers distinctly using both methamphetamine and marijuana — he’s not so distinct as to when.
“This defendant is guilty of manslaughter I,” the prosecutor emphasized in asking the jury to fix his sentence at 25 years in prison.
