A loving father and grandfather, Phillip Emerson was a 56-year-old man living in El Reno, Oklahoma. Remembered as a free spirit who loved his family fiercely, he was a skilled welder and a fan of the Cincinnati Bengals and Reds. Mr. Emerson, a Male, enjoyed cooking for his family and had recently become friends with a man he met at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Stacey Lee Drake.
Concern grew in mid-June 2024 when Phillip’s family couldn't get in touch with him.
On June 14, his brother went to his home in El Reno to check on him and made a devastating discovery. Phillip was deceased inside the residence, having been shot to death. As police began their investigation, they learned that not only was Phillip dead, but his truck was also missing from the property. This detail would soon become a critical link in a violent, multi-state crime spree.
Investigators quickly learned about Phillip’s new acquaintance, Stacey Lee Drake, also known as J.P. The missing truck immediately cast suspicion on Drake. El Reno Police Chief Ken Brown later called the stolen vehicle "a huge piece that helped tie the victim to what turned out to be Mr. Drake." The investigation took a dark turn when Phillip’s truck was discovered about 100 miles away in Gans, a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. The location was the scene of another horrific crime.
On June 18, four days after Phillip's body was found, two employees at LaFerry's Propane in Gans, Tara Underwood and Taylor Sharp, were shot and killed. Authorities alleged that Drake murdered them and then fled in Underwood's vehicle. This set off a massive, multi-state manhunt for the 50-year-old, who also had a warrant for a murder that occurred in Alabama in May. The search ended on June 20, 2024, when law enforcement captured Drake in a wooded area in Morrilton, Arkansas, where he had allegedly abandoned the car stolen from the Gans crime scene.
In August 2024, Stacey Lee Drake was formally charged with the murder of Phillip Emerson. He was also charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths in Gans, along with robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle. Sequoyah County District Attorney Jack Thorp announced that prosecutors were able to combine the Canadian County case with the Sequoyah County charges under a "pattern of criminal offenses" statute.
"This man's senseless and violent actions have affected people across this state," Thorp said in a statement. "Those victims and their families deserve justice." Drake has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him in Oklahoma. Prosecutors have indicated they may seek the death penalty if he is convicted. Following a series of preliminary hearings and motions, a court has scheduled the jury trial to begin on February 1, 2027.
