Oklahoma crime briefs, March 1

TIM WILLERT,

STAFF WRITER

Police seek man in death

Police have identified a man suspected of killing former U.S. Grant High School basketball standout Anthony Hartfield Jr. A judge issued an arrest warrant Thursday for Deandre Devon Smith, 22, who investigators say shot and killed Hartfield Jan. 14 during an attempted burglary at his father's home in the 1200 block of NE 46. A cellphone found in the front yard next to the residence led police to Smith, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

TIM WILLERT,

STAFF WRITER

Man accused of gun threat

Police say they arrested an Oklahoma City man Wednesday after he threatened his mother with a gun while playing Russian roulette. Wilhelm Andreas Wright, 42, was arrested on complaints of possession of a firearm while intoxicated, driving under the influence and reckless driving, after his mother reported he was playing Russian roulette and asked her to play, according to the police report. Police responded about 12:30 a.m. to the woman's home in the 6500 block of Eastbourne Lane, and saw a vehicle traveling east from the house at a high rate of speed. They pulled Wright over a few blocks away and arrested him. In the front seat of Wright's car, officers found a .22 caliber handgun with the cylinder and firing pin missing, according to the report. Wright was being held Thursday in the Oklahoma County jail, awaiting bail to be set.

ADAM KEMP,

STAFF WRITER

Trial ordered in slaying

PAULS VALLEY — An Oklahoma man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend's ex-husband, cutting up his body and stuffing the remains into cement-filled buckets was ordered Thursday to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge. Justin Hammer, 31, is charged in the Aug. 7, 2012, death of Brandon Duran, 32. Defense attorney Irven Box said Hammer fired in self-defense after Duran forced his way into Hammer's home. Prosecutors say the evidence indicates Hammer planned to shoot Duran. District Attorney Greg Mashburn has not decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case. During the hearing, friends of Hammer testified they overheard his girlfriend tell Hammer that Duran beat and abused her when they were married. They said she also was upset about a custody battle over the couple's young child. Hammer's girlfriend did not testify during the hearing. OSBI agent Marvin Akers said Hammer claimed during a video-recorded statement that he shot Duran in the face with a shotgun after Duran kicked his back door open. When Hammer was asked why he dismembered Duran's body, “he said he freaked out,” Akers said. The buckets containing Duran's body parts were recovered Aug. 10 in a pond on Hammer's property in rural Elmore City, 65 miles south of Oklahoma City.