In the evening hours of December 8, 2023, a dispute in the parking lot of a convenience store near East 61st Street and South Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, escalated to a tragic conclusion. Twenty-four-year-old Kareem Curtez King, a Black/African American male, was fatally wounded during the altercation. The confrontation, which involved a group of individuals, turned violent when gunfire erupted.
King sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Caught in the crossfire was King's girlfriend, who was also struck by a bullet. She suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was transported to the hospital for treatment of her non-life-threatening injuries. Following the shooting, the individuals responsible fled the scene. The woman who was injured was able to provide police with a description of the suspects and the direction in which they fled.
Responding to another call shortly after the shooting, Tulsa police officers located a group of individuals matching the description at a nearby apartment complex. After conducting interviews and gathering evidence, authorities arrested 26-year-old Jaquan Stites in connection with the incident.
Stites faces multiple charges, including first-degree manslaughter and assault and battery with a deadly weapon after a former conviction of a felony. He was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The swift arrest brought a suspect into custody as the community began to mourn the loss of a young life to gun violence.
