Something Else to Consider as We Think of Tulsa Murders
Was it revenge for a murdered father of one suspect, or anger over the breakup of his relationship with the mother of his child for the other suspect that allegedly led two Oklahoma men to go hunting for black people in the overnight hours of Friday, April 6?
A shot of the neighborhood where this all took place.Those are the questions facing Tulsa police as they review the circumstances surrounding the arrests of 19-year old Jake England and 32-year old Alvin Watts early Sunday morning. They face charges in the fatal shooting of three African Americans and shooting with intent to kill of two other black people during the overnight hours Friday night. Both men are white.
According to the New York Daily News:
Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said the two men were arrested at a hone just north of Tulsa at 1:47 a.m. Sunday and they were expected to face three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill.
He said police acted on an anonymous tip and went to one location and followed the suspects after they had traveled about a half mile on foot to another place where they were apprehended. He declined to characterize that as a pursuit.
According to the Tulsa World, revenge may be a motive for the shooting. However, a glimpse at Watts’ Facebook page shows he had reason to be angry the night of Apr. 6th as well.
Jake England makes several references to the two-year anniversary of his father’s death on his Facebook page, including a post 3:04 p.m. Thursday that says, ‘Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a f——— n——- it’s hard not to go off between that and sheran I’m gone in the head.’
England’s Facebook page indicates that his girlfriend, Sheran Hart Wilde, recently died. Her death notice was published Jan. 12 in the Tulsa World.
The Facebook page has since been taken down.
Tulsa cops are not willing to say as of yet whether or not revenge was a motive. None of the victims were acquainted with each other, they report. In fact, they may face competing motives. Was it revenge for a father murdered two years earlier by a black man? Or were the victims asked for directions to the house of the new boyfriend of the mother of Watts’ child, only to be shot when they did not respond properly?
The Tulsa World reports:
At 10:15 p.m. Friday, Jake England posted on Facebook, ‘Chilling at that house people talking s—- on me for some s—- I didn’t do … it just mite be the time to call it quits I I hate to say it like that but I’m done if something does happen tonite be ready for another funeral later.’
The World identifies Watts as one of England’s “Facebook Friends”, but jail records indicate the two men shared an address.
Watts’ Facebook page says he lives in Sperry, is from Muskogee and attended Muskogee High School. His arrest report lists his next of kin as his brother in Sperry.
England’s Facebook page says he is from Tulsa and attended Sperry High School.
Watts’ Facebook page is still online as of this writing. His final entry, 1:50 am Apr. 3, reads:
I’m goin catch sum z’s So hang it n ur asses u fckn haterz.
Watts’ Facebook page seems to indicate he was involved in some sort of custody battle, although he calls himself “a proud daddy” and his relationship status is “single.”
In a post dated March 17, he writes:
It so wrong 2 keep r son from me. U do it out of despite towards me. U bash my name 2 people who dont even kno me.jus lets me kno whaat u r.r have issues big time. Go 2 rehab u look bad. U know who u.r snake n da grass.jus want 2 c r son.
The person he seems to be addressing is a woman named Mandy, who writes on Watts’ Facebook page on March 2, after Watts wrote about being bored.
im cleaning n doing laundry n babysitting…hes doing wat he does best….talkin shit!…lmao…j/k….naw playin wit his son…he has the watts temper…:/
However, checking Mandy’s Facebook page, we see that she has no entries earlier than Friday, Apr. 6, the night of the shooting, in which she announces a change in her relationship from “single” to “in a relationship.”
She gives the name of the person she has started this new relationship with, and it is hard based on a single picture to determine of the individual is white, hispanic or black. He is either a light skinned black, a hispanic, or a dark-skinned “Anglo” with a thick, black mustache and thick, black hair. We will not reveal his name, but the website spokeo.com lists two nearby addresses in North Tulsa for this individual.
(LATE NOTE: Mandy has since removed the individual’s name from her Facebook timeline. He doesn’t mention her at all on his Facebook page, nor did he Sunday when the bulk of this story was written.)
Mandy’s most recent Facebook activity is posted on the Fox 23 Facebook Timeline at around 8 am Sunday morning.
OMG!
England and Watts were booked into the Tulsa Jail without bail on three complaints of first-degree murder, two complaints of shooting with intent to kill and a complaint of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Ironically, on Watts’ Facebook page, he lists his favorite quote.
A soft answer turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger.