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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Judge in Oklahoma Parade Case Recused

STILLWATER, Okla. (CN) - A judge has recused herself from the murder case against a driver accused of killing four people at Oklahoma State University's homecoming parade because she is friends with one of the victims.

State District Judge Katherine E. Thomas said Monday the unidentified victim is scheduled as a witness for the prosecution.

"This court has knowledge of facts which may bear upon issues in dispute during these proceedings," the one-page recusal filing states. "To avoid any question of impartiality, the court finds that Canon 2, Rule 2.1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct requires recusal."

Thomas previously ordered Adacia Avery Chambers, 24, to be held on $1 million bond and submit to a psychological evaluation. Chambers is accused of plowing a gray Hyundai Elantra into an unmanned police motorcycle and a crowd of people near a crosswalk on Oct. 24.

Killed at the scene were Marvin Lyle Stone, 65, Bonnie Jean Stone, 65, and Nikita Nakal, 23. Two-year-old Nash Lucas died later of his injuries.

Chambers faces up to 10 years in state prison on each of the four counts of second-degree murder against her if convicted.

She "admitted to having a history of suicidal attempts" when she was booked, and said "she was suicidal at the time of the incident but not at the time of booking," according to a probable cause affidavit.

Chambers' attorney, Tony Coleman in Oklahoma City, said after her arrest that he "absolutely" rules out alcohol as a cause of the crash. He said Chambers "doesn't remember a whole lot" about what happened and may have "blacked out."

Prosecutors filed an additional 46 counts of felony assault and battery against Chambers on Nov. 4.

The first civil lawsuit against Chambers was filed a day later in Benton County, Arkansas, by Kevin Witten. He accuses Chambers of driving drunk and wants co-defendant Shelter Insurance, his insurer, to pay his uninsured or underinsured motorist claims for injuries sustained in the crash.

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