In the spring of 2018, a chilling story of violence unfolded in Oklahoma City, culminating in the tragic death of 21-year-old Alize Ramon Smith, a Black male known to his loved ones as 'Gutta Twin.' The young man, along with his friend Jarron Keonte Moreland, also 21, vanished on April 14th, their sudden disappearance sparking immediate concern among their families.
The grim reality of their fate would come to light four days later, on April 18th, when their dismembered bodies were discovered submerged in a pond in Oklahoma City, a horrific end to a case that began with a report of a possible abduction.
The investigation into the brutal slayings quickly led authorities to four individuals. Brett Boettler, who was 16 at the time, faced the most severe charges, including two counts of second-degree murder. His 22-year-old brother, Kevin Garcia-Boettler, was charged with accessory to second-degree murder. Their mother, Crystal Boettler, and her boyfriend, Johnny Shane Barker, were also implicated, facing charges of accessory to second-degree murder, unlawful removal of a dead body, and desecration of a human corpse. The arrests brought a swift, albeit somber, development to a case that had shaken the community.
Despite the brutality of the crime and the fact that the victims were Black and the alleged perpetrators were white, prosecutors announced that the murders would not be treated as a hate crime, stating a lack of evidence to support such a charge. This decision sparked protests and comparisons to historical lynchings by activists who felt the racial dynamics of the case were being overlooked. The narrative that emerged from the investigation was one of a violent encounter that escalated to a gruesome double murder and a calculated attempt to conceal the crime, leaving two families to mourn the senseless loss of two young lives.
