Murder, rape cases on upcoming jury docket

Tahlequah Daily Press - 12/12/2018

Dec. 12--Jury trials are slated to begin Jan. 14 in Cherokee County District Court, with two defendants being accused of murder.

Before the scheduled proceeding, a defendant can still enter a plea, in which case there would be no trial. Arrangements between prosecutors and defense attorneys can delay the onset of trials, which are set to conclude Jan. 25.

Keia Marie Beaver, 29, Tahlequah, who is being accused of second-degree murder, is scheduled to appear before Judge Doug Kirkley. According to Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reports, Beaver, who was arrested on Oct. 17, 2017, told deputies she drove Jeremy Wayne Faglie, 33, to Northeastern Health System just after 6 a.m. Beaver claimed she accidentally shot Faglie while loading a .22-caliber rifle at their Hulbert home.

The defendant said Faglie awoke that morning and noticed their truck window had been broken. He then told Beaver to load the rifle, thinking the vandal was still outside. She reported that while she was loading the weapon, it fired, and the bullet struck the victim on the lower left side in the abdominal area. Later, while authorities were investigating the scene, they found very little blood inside the house, and no spent shell casing inside the room where she claimed she shot him in.

During the investigation, Beaver arrived at the sheriff's office, claiming Faglie had abused her that morning and insisted that the shooting was accidental. She told deputies Faglie had choked and bitten her, and authorities reported they did see evidence of scratches, bite marks and bruising around her neck. According to reports, Faglie allegedly brandished a gun and began to threaten Beaver with it while they were outside, prompting her to retrieve the rifle and fire at him "in an attempt to scare him."

Also to appear before Kirkley on the jury docket is Aram Catron, 36, Kansas, Oklahoma. He is accused of first-degree murder after he allegedly fled law enforcement officers following a shoplifting incident at Walmart. Catron allegedly drove his truck at a high speed into another vehicle, driven by Malinda Jane Phillips, 36, Park Hill, who died from injuries.

The defendant was reportedly speeding on West Avenue toward Choctaw Street when he collided with Phillips' vehicle, which went over a curb and into a telephone pole. Oklahoma Highway Patrol traffic homicide investigator Robert Francis said during the preliminary hearing that, based on the evidence, Catron appeared to have been traveling at 80 mph at the time of impact.

Catron was critically injured in the collision, but checked out of a Tulsa hospital before the probe was completed and charges were brought. He was later taken into custody in McDonald County, Missouri.

A drug-trafficking case is also listed on the jury docket with Kirkley presiding.

Charges were filed against Mikalyn Robb, 33, Tahlequah, on March 2, 2015, after she was allegedly in felony possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute and in possession of drug paraphernalia.

A 25-year-old rape case is listed on the jury docket, which scheduled to appear before Judge Josh King.

A warrant was issued for Javier Torres Garcia, 44, on March 20, 1995, for failure to appear in Cherokee County court after he allegedly raped a woman outside of her house on May 2, 1993. Court documents indicate he lived in Stilwell at the time. More than 22 years later, Garcia was placed in Department of Homeland Security Immigration custody in Stewart County, Georgia, and was transported back to Cherokee County.

According to documents, the victim stated she and the defendant were watching TV at her Tahlequah home when he pinned her down on the couch. She was able to get off the sofa, but he followed her to the back door.

Garcia then allegedly dragged the victim outside, pulled her shorts down, and forced her to have sexual intercourse. The victim said she tried to stop her assailant by hitting him, but he continued raping her. Once he was finished, he reportedly left.

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