In the early morning hours of a December day in Sperry, Oklahoma, a tragic misunderstanding led to the untimely death of William Kelley, a 42-year-old male. On December 7, 2014, Kelley and his son made their way to a barn on his property. Their purpose was to get equipment to help dislodge a vehicle that had become ensnared in mud. The pair could not have known that this simple task would end in bloodshed and loss.
Living in the barn on Kelley’s property was an older man named Fletcher
Foster. Kelley had permitted the 78-year-old to stay there. As Kelley and his son approached the barn shortly after 2 a.m., they encountered Foster. In a fatal turn of events, Foster did not recognize Kelley, the owner of the very property where he was living. Mistaking him for an intruder, Foster fired a shot that struck Kelley. Despite the arrival of Tulsa County deputies who found him with a gunshot wound, Kelley succumbed to his injuries.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Fletcher Foster was taken into custody at the scene. Initially facing a charge of first-degree murder, the legal proceedings would ultimately see a change in the severity of the accusation. Foster later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter. For his role in the death of William Kelley, a man who had shown him kindness by allowing him a place to live, Foster was sentenced to serve four years in prison.
