In the early morning hours of January 16, 2017, a sense of unease settled over a north Tulsa neighborhood near 29th Street North and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The sound of yelling followed by gunshots prompted a call to the police around 1:45 a.m. Responding officers arrived at a home to a scene of profound violence. Inside, they discovered the bodies of three individuals who had been shot to death. One of the victims was identified as 28-year-old Thomas Lee Brown.
Also found were his mother, 52-year-old Cara Brown, and another man, 58-year-old Kenneth Sellers.
Investigators quickly determined that the house had been ransacked, suggesting the perpetrators were searching for something of value. There were no signs of forced entry, leading police to believe the victims may have known their killer or killers. As the investigation unfolded, it became apparent that Thomas Lee Brown was likely the primary target of the attack. His mother and Kenneth Sellers were believed to have been killed simply because they were witnesses to the initial crime.
The brutal nature of the triple homicide sent shockwaves through the community and marked the city's third, fourth, and fifth homicides of the year. The initial investigation was challenging due to the violent crime scene and the difficulty in locating cooperative witnesses. However, in February 2017, a breakthrough came with the arrest of Melvin Porter. Later, a second suspect, Christopher President, was also taken into custody.
In 2021, both Melvin Porter and Christopher President stood trial for the murders. Over the course of a week-long trial, prosecutors presented a compelling case against the two men. A critical piece of evidence was cell phone records that contradicted the statements given by the defendants. After hearing all the evidence, a jury found both Porter and President guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of armed robbery. The jury recommended that both men be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, bringing a measure of justice to the families of Thomas Lee Brown, Cara Brown, and Kenneth Sellers after years of waiting.
