AMIE CATO-REMER, EDITOR AND LYNN ADAMS, SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER
First degree murder charges were filed on Thursday in Sequoyah County District Court against an Alabama man who reportedly shot and killed two people last Tuesday at a Gans business on Hwy. 64.
District Attorney Jack Thorp said Stacy L. Drake, 50, is also facing one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and a single count of murder in the first degree with deliberant intent following the shooting deaths of Taylor Sharp of Muldrow and Tara Underwood of Sallisaw.
According to court documents filed in the case, a person discovered Underwood and Taylor’s bodies inside LeFerry’s Propane with gunshot wounds. The person then drove to a nearby church parking lot where they notified deputy Mark Choate that Underwood had been shot and that Taylor was dead and “needed help.”
Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane contacted the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) where OSBI Crime Scene Agent Courtney Barnett collected various pieces of evidence related to the investigation of the double homicide, while interviews were conducted at the scene.
Thorp said Sequoyah County deputies and investigators, along with the OSBI were able to obtain video surveillance from LeFerry’s Propane in Gans showing Drake as the only individual entering and leaving the building between 2:49 and 3:05 p.m., and then driving away in Underwood’s vehicle, a 2016 GMC Acadia.
After more than 40 hours on the run, authorities located Drake at a Motel 6 in Morrilton, Ark. thanks to Underwood’s vehicle’s OnStar service. Video surveillance from the motel showed Drake wearing the same clothing and gloves as when he left the Gans business on Thursday.
Drake is a convicted felon with a long list of crimes, including burglary, kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer. In addition, he is accused of killing three people in two separate carjackings in Oklahoma, and has an Alabama warrant for a May 14 homicide of a 62-yearold man in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Drake was sentenced to serve 22 years in prison in 2010 after being convicted of carjacking, felon in possession of a firearm and brandishing a firearm during the carjacking. He was accused of threatening a man with a .45 caliber pistol as the man left a grocery store. Drake reportedly stole the man’s wallet, food and truck. He was chased by police for eight miles before wrecking and being apprehended. He served 10 years of the 22-year sentence.
He was also accused of committing a home invasion robbery and assaulting two people in Fort Smith, Ark., according to Arkansas police.
Drake allegedly abandoned a truck that was found last Saturday on East Redwood Ave. in Sallisaw, according to Sheriff Lane.
“I am extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication shown by the Sequoyah County Sheriff ’s Office and the OSBI,” Thorp concluded. “I would also like to thank the Morrilton Police Department, Arkansas State Police, and the Conway County Sheriff ’s Office for their assistance in locating and apprehending this violent criminal. These victims and their loved ones deserve justice, and we will fight to see that done.”
