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Date: 08-19-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: 4:20-cr-00204-JFH
Judge: John F. Heil, III
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with second degree murder in Indian country.
Redex Lester Jr., was charged with second-degree murder in Indian Country and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian County in connection with the death of Wayne Thomas and serious injury of another.
Lester had a history of four prior driving under the influence of alcohol.
“Redex Lester Jr. acted without regard for human life when he drove intoxicated on May 25, 2020, killing Wayne Thomas and injuring a second victim in a head-on collision,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson, in a written statement. “This conviction follows four previous state convictions for DUI. He will now spend the next 15 years in federal prison to account for this senseless crime.”
Lester’s blood alcohol content was nearly three times the legal limit when the 54-year-old’s 2001 GMC Sierra he was driving spun out of control, colliding with another vehicle in the 5900 block of South Lewis Avenue, triggering a four-vehicle collision.
Thomas, a passenger in one of the vehicles, died three days later from injuries he sustained in the crash.
Another man, who was not identified, received extensive, serious bodily injuries, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tulsa.
A Tulsa police officer who responded to the crash reported seeing Lester walking around a nearby fast food restaurant “in a staggered fashion,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in support of his arrest on a criminal complaint.
Lester initially told investigators that his wife was driving the vehicle and that she had left the scene, according to the affidavit.
Lester later recanted that his wife was involved, saying he was not thinking right due to “being in and out of consciousness,” the affidavit states.
Lester was initially charged in state court as the McGirt decision had yet to be rendered.
The state charges were dropped and federal charges filed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s McGirt decision.
18 USC 1151, 1153, and 1111: Murder in the Second Degree in Indian Country
(1)
18 USC 1151, 1153, 113(a)(6): Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury in Indian Country
(2) BOP: 120 months, to run concurrently with Ct. 1; SR: 3 yrs. to run concurrently with Ct. 1; SMA: $100
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: