Articles written by Sean Murphy
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How Republican-led states far from the US-Mexico border are rushing to pass tough immigration laws
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican-led states are rushing to give broader immigration enforcement powers to local police and impose criminal penalties for those living in the country illegally as the issue of migrants crossing the U.S. border remains c...
Bond denied for 4 'God's Misfits' defendants in the killing of 2 Kansas women
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge ordered public defenders to represent four members of an anti-government group who appeared in court Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and killing two Kansas women. The judge also entered not-guilty pleas a... Full story
How Kansas women's disappearance on a drive to pick up kids led to 4 arrests in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A two-week search for two missing Kansas women came to a fatal end last weekend when Oklahoma authorities confirmed the two were dead and announced the arrests of four people who allegedly belonged to an anti-government group t...
Oklahoma judge orders Kansas City Chiefs superfan 'ChiefsAholic' to pay $10.8M to bank teller
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge ordered a Kansas City Chiefs superfan known as "ChiefsAholic" who admitted to a series of bank robberies to pay $10.8 million to a teller who was assaulted with a gun, though attorneys say the teller may n...
Oklahoma executes man convicted of double slaying in 2002
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — A man convicted of shooting and killing two people in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago was executed Thursday morning. Michael Dewayne Smith received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester a...
Oklahoma judge rules death row inmate not competent to be executed
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge ruled Thursday that a death row inmate is not competent to be executed for his role in the 1999 slayings of a mother and son. Pittsburg County Judge Michael Hogan issued an order in the case involving 6...
Oklahoma's push to weaken penalties for cockfighting is frustrating opponents of the bloodsport
WILSON, Okla. (AP) — Before Oklahoma became one of the last places in the U.S. to outlaw cockfighting in 2002, it wasn't uncommon to see hundreds of spectators packed into small arenas in rural parts of the state to watch roosters, often outfitted w...
Death of nonbinary teen Nex Benedict after school fight is ruled a suicide, medical examiner says
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The death of a nonbinary student the day after a fight inside an Oklahoma high school restroom has been ruled a suicide, the state medical examiner's office said Wednesday. A summary autopsy report was released more than a m...
Oklahoma panel denies clemency for death row inmate, paves way for lethal injection
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state panel on Wednesday denied clemency for an Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of shooting and killing two people in Oklahoma City more than two decades ago, paving the way for his lethal injection next month. The O...
Wildfire grows into one of largest in Texas history as flames menace multiple small towns
CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of s...
Firefighters face difficult weather conditions as they battle the largest wildfire in Texas history
STINNETT, Texas (AP) — Firefighters in Texas faced rising temperatures, whipped-up winds and dry air Saturday in their battle to keep the largest wildfire in state history from turning more of the Panhandle into a parched wasteland. Firefighters were...
Wildfire grows into one of largest in Texas history as flames menace multiple small towns
CANADIAN, Texas (AP) — A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of s... Full story
Oklahoma police are investigating a nonbinary teen's death after a fight in a high school bathroom
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Police in Oklahoma are investigating the death of a 16-year-old student who died a day after an altercation in a high school bathroom that may have been prompted by bullying over gender identity. Neither police nor school o...
Tribal sovereignty among the top issues facing Oklahoma governor and Legislature
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tribal sovereignty is expected to again be a top issue facing Oklahoma lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt as they returned on Monday to begin the 2024 legislative session. Stitt, a Republican and himself a citizen of the Cherokee N...
Oklahoma asks teachers to return up to $50,000 in bonuses the state says were paid in error
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — With four young children and a fifth on the way, Kristina Stadelman was ecstatic after qualifying for a $50,000 bonus for taking a hard-to-fill job as a special education teacher in Oklahoma. She used the money to finish home i...
Oklahoma schools chief says he's trying to let teachers keep bonuses paid in error
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said Wednesday his agency is working to see if several teachers who were improperly awarded bonuses of up to $50,000 can keep them after he faced bipartisan criticism over attempts to r...
Will other states replicate Alabama's nitrogen execution?
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's first-ever use of nitrogen gas for an execution could gain traction among other states and change how the death penalty is carried out in the United States, much like lethal injection did more than 40 years ago, a...
Oklahoma superintendent faces blowback for putting Libs of TikTok creator on library panel
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma's new Republican superintendent of public schools is facing bipartisan criticism for appointing a right-wing social media influencer from New York to a state library advisory committee. Superintendent of Public Instructi... Full story
Why are states like Alabama, which is planning to use nitrogen gas, exploring new execution methods?
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Alabama execution Thursday that would be the first to use nitrogen gas is the result of a long history of problems with lethal injections since Texas first used the method in 1982, including difficulties finding usable veins a...
Oklahoma's next lethal injection delayed for 100 days for competency hearing
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The lethal injection of an Oklahoma man scheduled to be executed next month has been paused for 100 days so that a hearing can be held to determine if he's mentally competent enough to be executed. The Oklahoma Court of C...
Dispute over criminal jurisdiction flares in Oklahoma between tribal police, jailers
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A dispute erupted this week between police officers from the Muscogee Nation and jailers in a small eastern Oklahoma county that led to one jailer facing a battery charge in tribal court. The confrontation underscores the tension...
Barbie doll honoring Cherokee Nation leader is met with mixed emotions
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An iconic chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, inspired countless Native American children as a powerful but humble leader who expanded early education and rural healthcare. Her reach is now broadening with a q...
Oklahoma Supreme Court keeps anti-abortion laws on hold while challenge is pending
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court reiterated its position on Tuesday in a 5-4 opinion that the state constitution guarantees a woman's right to an abortion when necessary to preserve her life, although the procedure remains illegal i...
Oklahoma trooper tickets Native American citizen, sparking outrage from tribal leaders
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper ticketed a tribal citizen with a current Otoe-Missouria Tribe license plate for failing to pay state taxes, prompting an outcry from tribal leaders who blamed Gov. Kevin Stitt's increasing h...
Oklahoma attorney general sues to stop US's first public religious school
Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Friday sued to stop a state board from establishing and funding what would be the nation's first religious public charter school after the board ignored Drummond's warning that it would viola...
