STATE BRIEFS
State Briefs: Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Published: July 8, 2008

A July 29 preliminary hearing was scheduled Monday in Tulsa County District Court for Brandon Wayne Brixey, 25, who is charged with six felonies, two of them involving the alleged rape of an 8-year-old girl.

Brixey also is charged with lewd molestation, which alleges the rape occurred in front of the girl's 3-year-old brother. Other charges include kidnapping the girl, the boy and their 1-year-old brother, robbery by force or fear and eluding police.

He is accused of stealing a van about 12:30 a.m. June 26 when the mother of the three children returned to it from a southeast Tulsa tanning salon.

Because of physical similarities, police have questioned Brixey in connection with unsolved rape cases, most notably that of a Broken Arrow girl last September.

A 12-year-old boy was shot in the head at a house in Luther on Monday evening, authorities said.

The boy was flown to OU Medical Center in critical condition and will undergo surgery, Oklahoma County sheriff's spokesman Mark Myers said. The boy's name has not been released.

A friend of the victim lives in the home where the shooting happened about 5:15 p.m., Myers said. The shooting may have been accidental, Myers said.

A fisherman in Muskogee County discovered the body of an unidentified man lying in the debris of the Arkansas River on Monday.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles said the man's body was tattooed and authorities think he was in his mid-20s.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Affordable housing will be the subject of a seminar on Thursday. "Unlocking Doors” will discuss the partnerships needed to create affordable housing for all income levels in smaller communities.

The seminar will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday in the Centennial Conference Center at Great Plains Technology Center in Lawton.

For more information, contact Bernita Taylor at (580) 248-1520, or Jervis Jackson at (580) 353-7392.

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•OFFICER RECOVERS: The condition of Enid police officer Tom Corbin, who was hit by a car Saturday night, is improving.