WAGONER  — Prosecutors plowed through a number of witnesses Tuesday in a first-degree murder case involving a fatal stabbing at an Okay bar.

Ervin F. Mykitin III, 25, of Fort Valley, Ga., is accused of killing Billy Dean Lee Jr., 22, during an Aug. 17, 2010, altercation at the Blue Room.

Wagoner County Assistant District Attorney John David Luton said Mykitin admitted stabbing Lee. Mykitin contends he used a knife to defend himself against Lee and one or two others who may have jumped him.

Several people present during the bar fight testified Tuesday they saw Mykitin approach Lee and two friends in the bar. After a brief conversation, during which Mykitin allegedly inquired about buying marijuana, Lee told Mykitin to get lost.

Witnesses said Mykitin left the bar through the front door and quickly returned and approached Lee and his friends a second time.

“He (Mykitin) came back in, and all I saw was Billy hit him and he (Mykitin) went down and got back up,” said Dustin Cowden, a lifelong friend of Lee’s. “They started trading blows ... and I saw Billy go down with Mykitin on top hitting him in the chest.”

Lee’s roommate, Carson Baker, said he saw Lee and Mykitin get into a scuffle, then go to the floor. During cross-examination Baker said Mykitin was on top of his friend when Baker pulled him off.

Joi McClendon, who is defending Mykitin, pointed out discrepancies in Baker’s testimony given during her client’s preliminary hearing and Tuesday’s proceedings.

McClendon also pointed out Baker, who was only 20 at the time, had been drinking, may have been intoxicated, and was driving before and after the deadly brawl.

Baker, who said he grabbed Lee from the barroom floor and took him to his truck, testified he had a cell phone with him. Instead of calling police, Baker said he called his girlfriend to come pick him up.

When McClendon asked if he was trying to delay contact with police until he sobered up, Baker didn’t deny that was the case.

Every eyewitness who testified Tuesday said they saw Lee throw the first punch. Nobody saw Mykitin with a knife in his hand. But their accounts varied.

Luton said the variations can be attributed to the different vantage points from which the scene was observed.

“The way I look at it is if everybody has the exact same story, it seems they got together and came up with that story,” Luton said. “When you are seeing something from different vantage points, you are naturally going to see things a little bit differently.”

Luton rested his case Tuesday. McClendon plans to present her client’s defense today. McClendon plans to have Mykitin’s mother and brother testify. His brother called police to report the stabbing.

McClendon said her client plans to testify.

Reach D.E. Smoot at (918) 684-2901 or dsmoot@muskogeephoenix.com.