In the winter of 2017, the life of 51-year-old Terence Laval Jackson was tragically cut short in what would become a grim chapter in Midwest City, Oklahoma's history. On the evening of January 28th, Jackson was inside a house with two other men, 39-year-old Donielle Gregory and 39-year-old Derrel Lyn Barksdale Jr. The atmosphere was reportedly relaxed as the three men were talking, drinking, and smoking.
This sense of normalcy was shattered when a gunman opened fire, striking each of them multiple times and leaving a scene of shocking violence.
The tranquility of the neighborhood was broken by the sound of gunshots, and when authorities arrived, they discovered the city's first-ever triple homicide. The investigation quickly pointed to 42-year-old Ramon Rocha Pugh as the suspected shooter. Also known by the aliases "Sico," "Psycho," and "Romon," Pugh had a criminal history that included charges of shooting with intent to kill. In the immediate aftermath of the killings, Pugh vanished, prompting a manhunt. A woman who was in the house at the time of the shooting, along with her 10-year-old daughter, managed to escape through a bedroom window after hearing the fatal shots.
The search for Pugh intensified, with law enforcement seeking the public's help to locate him. The gravity of his alleged crimes led prosecutors to signal their intent to seek the death penalty, underscoring the belief that he posed a significant ongoing threat to the community. While Pugh was a fugitive, authorities made an arrest in connection with his attempt to evade capture. A 47-year-old woman, Lucretia Mitchell-Spencer, was taken into custody and charged with harboring a fugitive, accused of helping Pugh hide from the police.
After several days on the run, on February 3, 2017, Ramon Rocha Pugh turned himself in to the authorities. He was subsequently charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Terence Laval Jackson, Donielle Gregory, and Derrel Lyn Barksdale Jr., bringing a close to the search for the man at the center of the brutal slayings.
