William Shirley IV, after two years in the Okmulgee County Jail, has entered a guilty plea in connection to the death of Kenneth Dewayne Fultz III. Shirley was first charged
William Shirley IV, after two years in the Okmulgee County Jail, has entered a guilty plea in connection to the death of Kenneth Dewayne Fultz III.
Shirley was first charged with First Degree Murder in December 2016 but those charges were dropped to First Degree Manslaughter. Standing before Associate District Judge Cynthia Pickering, Shirley announced his plea of guilty and was sentenced to 25 years. Shirley will serve 15 of those years in jail while he will be on probation for the other 10 years.
Okmulgee Police Department first detained Shirley on Dec. 21, 2016, on complaints of first degree murder in connection to the death of Fultz.
Reports of a shooting were reported to the police department near the 1000 block of West 8th Street in Okmulgee. And when they arrived on the scene they found Fultz dead inside his home.
Court records state that Shirley had entered Fultz’ home with a pistol while committing First Degree Burglary, and ‘regardless of malice’ took Fultz’s life.
Police were able to obtain enough probable cause to arrest Shirley, according to a Facebook post the Okmulgee Police Department made on Dec. 23, 2016. The state has endorsed 26 witnesses connected to the case, which include police and other state officials.
