In pursuit of justice, 11/2008, v.1 no.3

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V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 P A G E 1
forced to relocate. Watashe
had three prior felony convic-tions.
Assistant DA John Lackey
prosecuted.
Dale Ackerson was found
guilty in June of the murder of
Dacari Ackerson, 2 months,
and sentenced to LIFE IN
PRISON. The child died of blunt
trauma to the head, according to
forensic pathologist Dr. Ronald
Distefano. The doctor testified
that he also observed signs of
other injuries, including four
fractured ribs. Prosecutors were
Assistant DA Jake Cain and Rob
Sher.
T ulsa County juries sent 66
criminals to prison as of
Oct. 31, 2008 for crimes
including murder, rape, robbery,
shooting with intent to kill, sex-ual
assault of a child, maiming,
assault and battery with a deadly
weapon, child abuse and setting a
house on fire with a family inside.
Tulsa County prosecutors con-vinced
juries to send 18 murder-ers
to prison. Six others pled
guilty or no contest to murder
rather than face a jury trial. Eight
other defendants were convicted
or pled guilty to manslaughter
and were sent to prison.
With guilty pleas, a total of 1,571
offenders have been sent to
prison from Tulsa County as of
Sept. 30, 2008.
In 2008 trials, one murderer was
sentenced to DEATH, nine
defendants received sentences of
LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, and
ten were sentenced to LIFE IN
PRISON. One defendant was
acquitted of shooting a man to
death and wounding another.
The surviving victim identified
the defendant as the shooter.
In June, Jesus Franciso Her-nandez
was convicted of mur-der
in the stabbing death of
Aletheia Kikugawa, 32, and
her 15-week-old fetus. He was
sentenced to LIFE IN PRISON
WITHOUT PAROLE and 30
YEARS IN PRISON. Assistant
DAs Michelle Keely and Chris-tina
Wolfram prosecuted.
Jonathan Watashe was con-victed
of arson in August 2008
and sentenced to 30 YEARS IN
PRISON for throwing a Molotov
cocktail into a home that was
occupied by Tonya Redricks
and four family members, includ-ing
children. The crime occurred
Dec. 20, 2007. The family es-caped
unharmed, but was
66 Violent Criminals Taken Off Tulsa Area
Streets in Jury Trials So Far in 2008
INSIDE:
Trial Results 2
Justice for BA
Hostage, Police
3
Child Witnesses 4
Elder Abuse 5
Hoops & Hope 6
Message From
DA Tim Harris
8
Trees of Honor 7
In Pursuit of Justice
V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3 N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8
See VIOLENT CRIME Page 2
T I M H A R R I S
T U L S A C O U N T Y
D I S T R I C T A T T O R N E Y
􀁝􅴠
"When justice
is done,
it brings joy
to the righteous
but terror to
evildoers."
Proverbs 21:15
􀁝􅴠
A family of five lived in this home when Jonathon Watashe
tossed a Molotov cocktail through the window in December
2007. The family escaped unharmed. Watashe will serve 30
years for First-Degree Arson.
OFFENDERS SENT
TO PRISON FROM
TULSA COUNTY
2006 1,843
2007 1,961
2008 1,571*
* through 9-30-08