By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater teenager, who said he hopes one day to become a youth/children’s pastor, was sentenced as an adult last week to serve 25 years in prison for the fatal shooting of the boyfriend of a woman he regarded as his mother.
Coryon Lauray Maryell Thomas, now 19, was 17 when he killed Mandrale Alexander Henry, 26, who was shot once in the right side of his back with a 20 gauge shotgun kept in the garage of the family home at about 4:15 am on Nov. 10, 2019, according to court testimony.
Even though the teen pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, he claimed “It was an accident that shouldn’t have happened. I was led to believe that the lives of my family was in danger. I had tried to stop what was going on. I slipped up and fired by accident. The shot would have never been fired if the gun’s trigger wasn’t ‘a hair-trigger,"” according to his written statement in a pre-sentencing investigation.
Probation and Parole Officer Ronald Kitterman noted in the report, “The defendant does not appear to be remorseful, and is blaming his actions on the weapon, and not taking responsibility for his intent to find the weapon, load the weapon and then point the weapon at the victim.”
In a written statement in the report, the victim’s mother, Angelika Arnold said, “Mandrale was my only son and my youngest child. We had a very close relationship. There are times when I cannot go to functions or even work due to this tragedy. My attitude and my feelings are not the same and they will never be the same. My son was brutally murdered for no reason.
“Words cannot describe the impact this has had on my family. We are more than devastated by what happened to our son. Our family will never be the same again. Several family members are in therapy because they can barely cope with this. My son left behind family as well as his son (he was eight-months-old when my son passed.) I look at my grandson and realize that his baby will never know him, feel him, or talk to him again.
“My husband and I are criminal justice career individuals. Since then, my husband retired, and I left criminal justice as a whole. I changed my entire career as a result of this crime. I have two degrees in Criminal Justice. My degrees were basically a waste because I will never be able to work in this field again due to this crime. When my son was murdered, I taught Criminal Justice at Rose State College, belonged to the Oklahoma Detention Operators Association, and held other memberships in the criminal justice field of study.
“At the time of this crime, I also held the position of Facility Director of the Cleveland County Regional Juvenile Detention Center. How could I continue to work with juveniles when a juvenile murdered my son? I have worked all of my life in a field of my passion and made it my mission to teach others of the diversity of Criminal Justice. All of my hard work and dedication to this field of study, and now I have had to abandon all that I have ever known due to this crime.”
In the background report, “The defendant stated he has a history of alcohol and drug abuse. He advised that he had used marijuana the night before the crime, but was not under the influence during the crime; the defendant reported using alcohol one to 10 times and marijuana over 50 times during his lifetime.”
The teenager wrote in the report, “my number one goal in life is to open up a youth program, similar to a Big Brother or Big Sister program. Basically, a therapist/confidante/minister for children and youth. I’m currently working on my degree in Biblical Theology to get my pastoring license, along with my high school diploma/GED. While I’m working on a long-term career, I’m going to look to take up a position as a youth/children’s pastor. Along with breeding/raising dogs. I also would like to see how far I could go in boxing.”
At his May 18 sentencing hearing, Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler told the teenager that on his release from prison, he must register as a violent offender for 10 years.
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