Cari A Cope
(DOC file photo)
By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A 49-year-old Yale woman accused of pouring bleach on her mother, forcing her to drink it and causing a facial fracture by beating her has pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and battery, court records show.
Cari Ann Cope was given a 180-day jail term, with credit for time served, followed by four and one-half years of probation at her Jan. 23 sentencing by District Judge Jason Reese, who approved the prosecution’s recommendation regarding her penalty.
Cope was also ordered to continue mental health treatment, have no contact with her mother and complete all requirements contained in a background report, court records show.
Cope “has a chemical addiction, at the least to methamphetamine,” according to an affidavit by Yale Deputy Police Chief Ken Moore.
Her mother “told me Cari Cope was saying she (her mother) is the devil, and she had to kill the devil,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
When her mother called police at 3:49 am on July 18, 2025, she said, “Please send someone before they kill me,” his affidavit said.
Moore arrived about two minutes later at the residence where “a female vice from inside told me to come in,” his affidavit said.
“Once inside, I saw (her mother) lying on the pullout couch/bed. There was some blood on her. I asked (her) who was there. She told me they were. There was also a strong odor of bleach.
“Since she was breathing, I took my service weapon out of its holster and cleared each room and closets; no one other than us two were in the house.
“I went back and asked (her mother) what had happened, and she told me that ‘she beat her up.’ I saw two scratches on her upper left cheek below her eye. Ther was dried blood on the pillow/blanket under her that appeared to have been coming from her right ear.
“Also, a cut between her eyebrows, and again a strong odor of bleach from her person,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
“After calling for an ambulance, “While maintaining a visual of (her mother), I was paying attention to anyone that may come back. The type of medical care she needed was beyond my capabilities, so I kept talking to her trying to keep calm. She told me she wanted to go to Stillwater Medical Center.
“She told me that she was forced to drink bleach, and she had bleach all over her. The bathroom floor was wet, there was an open one-gallon bottle of bleach by the dryer, which is located just off the kitchen,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
After a Cushing ambulance arrived to transport her to the Stillwater Medical Center and the doors of the residence were secured, “I told dispatch that I would be looking for the suspect. At approximately 4:33 am I went to Cari Cope’s residence and knocked on the front door.
“I asked Cari Cope if she had been at her mother’s residence. Cari Cope told me no. I did not smell beach on or about Cari Cope…I did not see anything to indicate she was involved,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
At about 7 am, a nurse from the Stillwater Medical Center called: “The nurse told me there was a cut in the right ear and a cut on the top of (her) head. The nurse told me once they got her cleaned up, they found additional injuries. The nurse told me that they were going to call Adult Protective Services,” Moore wrote in his affidavit.
The next night, Moore learned, “Apparently the neighbor to the west of this residence said she had seen and heard Cari Cope and (her mother) arguing on the front porch, the yard and the road. I asked her if they were screaming at that hour, why didn’t you call police; she said that’s just how they talk,” the affidavit said.
When Moore went to Cope’s residence, she was in a tent in the front yard, the affidavit said. Moore wrote in his affidavit, “I told her I wanted to speak with her about the morning her mother got assaulted. Cari Cope asked me why. I told Cari Cope because she had told me she was not there, and now I have an eyewitness that she was there between 3:00-3:30 am. Cari Cope told me she was there but didn’t assault her mother.
“We spoke for a while, and then Cari Cope started talking about herself in the third person. I have known Cari Cope for 20 years give or take, and when Cari Cope refers to herself in third person, it is her way of telling the truth. Cari Cope told me that ‘that b…. is mean and evil, no one likes her.’ Cari went on to say that (her mother) deserves to be punished, that she (her mother) is always mean and putting her down.
“Cari Cope is in need of help with her addiction and her mental health. Cari is not capable of attending to her physical or mental health, shy of court-ordered treatment where Cari Cope is watched over and given proper medications Cari Cope will continue to decline in both physical and mental health.”
According to court records and the state Department of Corrections, Cope was convicted of endeavoring to manufacture methamphetamine and possessing the drug in Pawnee County in 2006, for which she was originally placed on seven years of probation that was revoked in 2009 to two years in prison, but she only served six months.
Cope was also convicted of endeavoring to manufacture a drug, possessing a precursor with intent to manufacture and possessing a drug in Drumright in 2008, for which she was placed on 10 years of probation, Creek County court records show. She was also convicted of attempted third-degree burglary and carrying contraband into the Payne County Jail in 2019, for which she was placed on two years of probation in 2020, court records show.
