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August 18, 2010

Two in custody in Tahlequah after argument turns deadly

By Bob Gibbins CNHI

— TAHLEQUAH — Two men were jailed as an argument between friends turned deadly north of Tahlequah.

Kent Allen Johnson and Randelle Jay Sanders, both 30, were booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center early Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of Johnathan Hall, 28. Johnson was booked on a first-degree manslaughter charge, and Sanders was booked for obstructing an officer.

Sheriff’s Capt. Bob Sanders said the men were at Johnson’s home on Jones Road north of Tahlequah when an argument started. Witnesses told investigators Johnson and Hall were arguing about narcotics. Johnson has told law enforcement he accidentally shot Hall.

Hall was shot once in the chest with a .22-caliber revolver. The firearm was recovered Tuesday afternoon when law enforcement officers served a search warrant on the residence.

Investigators said Johnson drove Hall to the Tahlequah City Hospital emergency room, where he died.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Moore was assigned to take the report, and he notified Capt. Sanders. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was later called to assist at the scene.

A date has not been set for Johnson and Randelle Sanders to be charged, a spokesman for the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Randelle Sanders has a Cherokee County conviction for accessory to second-degree murder for the December 2001 shooting death of Jackie Balthrop. Sanders is on probation on that conviction until March 2019, Department of Corrections records show.

Johnson has previous drug convictions in Muskogee County and also was charged in Cherokee County in 2004 with possession of a firearm while on probation.

Bob Gibbins writes for the Tahlequah Daily Press.

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