Outburst marks sentencing of teen murderer

CORDELL – “You better pray every day of your life!” yelled an angry protestor as the official sentencing for teenage killer Blaize Teague got underway here Thursday afternoon.
The yeller, an adult male, also uttered a few obscenities. District Judge Doug Haught quickly ordered him removed from the courtroom. He was, but the yelling continued outside in the hallway for a time.
Earlier, before the judge came in, the same man had muttered the word “murderer” at the 15-year-old Teague, who was 14 when he shot Tammi Thomas to death in her Cordell home on July 20, 2017. He also wounded her 13-year-old son, Christian Thomas, on that “horrible” night 16 months ago.
“Horrible” was one of the words the judge used Thursday in describing that night before sentencing Teague to two life-in-prison terms and another of 20 years. He ordered the terms to run consecutive to each other, meaning one after the other instead of all at the same time.
However, it’s still to be determined how much time Teague will actually spend in prison. Earlier, it had been indicated he possibly could be released when he turns 18, and apparently that’s still the case.
The confusion is because of a ruling last year by Associate District Judge Jill Weedon that Teague should be treated as a “youthful offender” rather than an adult.
“As a youthful offender, he gets a sentence authorized by law (the two life terms plus the 20 years) and an individualized service plan through the Office of Juvenile Affairs,” District Attorney Angela Marsee explained after Thursday’s sentencing.
Asked which takes precedence, she said, “They’re both in place. Since he’s a youthful offender, his case will be reviewed and determinations made at review hearings as to whether he is meeting requirements of his individualized service plan. He will remain in custody of the OJA (Office of Juvenile Affairs) until a court makes further disposition orders.
“There are at least annual reviews. If he’s still in custody of OJA at the time he turns 18, there will be a review to determine how his sentence is disposed of. It’s very complicated.”
Mrs. Marsee’s assistant D.A. for Washita County, Brooke Gatlin, did the talking for the prosecution at Thursday’s sentencing. She asked for the two consecutive life sentences plus the 20 years and also requested that two review hearings be scheduled – one a year from now in November of 2019, which is mandatory, and another one earlier, in May or June next year. She said she felt a year was a long time for a person starting a sentence for a crime of this type “not to have eyes or ears on him.”
Judge Haught, who agreed with most of her requests, did not concur with the early review hearing. He scheduled only the annual one and set it for Dec. 21, 2019, at 9:30 a.m., which will be long after he’s out of office since he chose not to run for reelection. Presumably, the district judge at that time will be Judge Weedon, who was the lone candidate for district judge this year.
Other requests from Mrs. Gatlin which the judge ordered were that Teague be confined to a medium-security facility while incarcerated (anything less would not be adequate protection for the public, she said), that he not have any contact with the victim’s family, and that neither the killer nor his family be allowed to profit from his misdeeds (through books, movies, etc.).
In addition, Judge Haught lifted a restriction that Teague be required to eat his meals alone. He apparently has been under that restriction since being arrested about a month after the shootings.
Thursday’s sentencing was in response to guilty pleas Teague had made Oct. 25 as a juvenile offender to charges of first-degree murder for the killing of Ms. Thomas; to shooting with intent to kill for the wounding of her son; and to first-degree burglary for breaking into their Cordell home about 1 a.m. just prior to the shootings. Both the murder victim and her son were shot with a .22-caliber handgun. The life sentences were for the two shootings and the 20 years for the burglary.
In requesting those sentences, Mrs. Gatlin called the reason for them an “absolutely heinous crime” and asked that Teague be sentenced “to the fullest extent of the law.”
After her remarks, the defendant’s principal attorney – Michael Beason of Altus – asked the judge to consider prior testimony from two doctors and a third person. In contrast to Ms. Gatlin’s description of the events that night as “heinous” and “atrocious,” Beason asked the judge to consider the “transient immaturity of this child.”
It was then that a man sitting in the audience just a few feet behind the defendant and his attorneys jumped to his feet and started shouting. Judge Haught immediately ordered him evicted, and sheriff’s officers and Cordell police escorted him from the courtroom. That’s when the man yelled out to Teague that he “better pray every day!”
Noise continued in the hallway for a few moments after the eviction, but proceedings resumed in the courtroom as if nothing had happened.
“This young man, this child, is amenable,” said defense attorney Michael Beason. “All indications are it would be a rare incident even in a case like this for a child to be irreparably corrupt.”
Beason said that if given the opportunity to work out the treatment plan prepared by the Office of Juvenile Affairs, he feels that in future years “when he returns to this court,” the presiding jurist would find him to be a changed person.  
Asked afterwards if she knew who the man was that shouted out in the courtroom, District Attorney Marsee indicated she did but said she would rather not comment on the incident. She did say she does not anticipate any charges being filed against him.
Sheriff Roger Reeve was not in Friday morning and his spokesperson – Jimmy Ferrero – did not know who the man was either, but thought he may have been a relative of the woman who was murdered.
Back in the courtroom, Beason told the judge he would be happy to come back and represent Teague in further proceedings during what promises to be an extended process.
“You do have the right to have an attorney appointed at all stages,” Judge Haught assured the defendant. “You also have the right to appeal.” But to do that, the judge said he would have to withdraw his prior plea of guilty within 10 days.