In the fall of 2023, the life of 16-year-old Marcus Stephen Scott was tragically cut short on November 13 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The young man, who was anticipating the birth of his daughter the following month, was shot multiple times and left for dead near the intersection of U.S. Highway 60 and Frank Phillips Boulevard.
Accounts from his family indicate that on the night of his death, Marcus had been with friends.
An argument reportedly took place at a friend's house before Marcus got into a car with at least three other friends, believing he was on his way to his girlfriend's house. At some point, he exited the vehicle near the intersection and was shot. Security footage from the area captured a vehicle matching the suspect's car arriving approximately 10 minutes before police were called. The footage shows Scott getting out of the car and then falling to the ground after being shot, with the vehicle then speeding away. He was pronounced dead at the scene with multiple bullet wounds to his upper chest and left side.
In the wake of the shooting, an investigation led police to identify Bryson Towers, then 20 years old, as the suspect. Towers was apprehended a short time later in Coffeyville, Kansas, and was subsequently extradited back to Washington County in Oklahoma to face a first-degree murder charge. He was held on a $500,000 bond.
During a preliminary hearing for Towers, several Bartlesville Police Department officers testified. They reported finding a 9mm shell casing under a floor mat in the vehicle linked to the crime. Additionally, documents bearing Towers' name, including his wallet and mail, were discovered in the ditched vehicle. The first-degree murder trial for Bryson Towers began in August 2024, with a jury selected to hear testimony regarding the events that led to the death of Marcus Scott.
