— A mother who buried her son 21 years ago is grateful the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has decided to keep his killer in prison.

“To me, that’s justice — just what it should have been,” said Sherry Marks of Checotah. “That’s the only way he can pay for what he did is by staying in prison.”

Marks is the mother of Jerry Don Hurst, who was 19 when he drank a soda spiked with potassium cyanide in front of a Checotah convenience store on Aug. 20, 1991. He died the next day.

Danny Turner, who was 17 at the time, and another boy, Quincy Scott, also 17, were charged in Hurst’s death. Scott pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years prison. Scott was released in March 2010.

Turner was found guilty of first-degree murder, and for the first time since he was found guilty, a parole hearing for Turner, now 38, got beyond the first stage.

Hurst’s family had to appear in person for the second stage of the parole hearing last week, and it was an emotional time for each, Marks said.

During Turner’s part of the hearing in which he appeared from the prison on video, a camera was turned and someone said to Turner, “See your supporters.”

Turner’s family stood up so he could see them, Marks said.

“When they turned the camera around for him — shoot, I’ll never see my son again,” Marks said. “And here he got to see his family, and they can go and see him at the prison anytime. All I can do is go to the graveyard.”

McIntosh County District Attorney Rob Barris, who was the assistant district attorney who prosecuted Turner’s case, was happy with the board’s decision.

“I’m grateful the board apparently listened to what we had to say, took that into account and what he had done, and denied it,” Barris said. “I had the opportunity to argue the state’s objection as well as be there with (Hurst’s) family while they voiced their objection to him being paroled.”

Marks said her daughter, Hurst’s only sibling, spoke for the family at the hearing.

She was given five minutes to speak. Turner was questioned for more than an hour, Marks said.

“In her statement she pointed out he never took the personal step to tell us he was sorry or even ask for our forgiveness,” Marks said. “And to this day he has not.”

Marks said Turner lied during his parole hearing as well.

“He said he and Jerry Don were the best of friends, that he stayed the night with us and Jerry Don with him,” Marks said. “And that was not true. They were, at most, acquaintances. They were never close friends.”

Hurst’s aunt, Ramona Payne, said she will continue to oppose Turner’s release as well.

“It did not seem to make enough of an impact on him what he did,” Payne said. “I think he could care less about what happened to Jerry, what he did to that boy and what it’s doing to us.”

Reach Wendy Burton at (918) 684-2926 or wburton@muskogeephoenix.com.