The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

September 15, 2012

Man arrested in woman’s slaying

Transcript Staff The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — Norman police have arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of a 57-year-old woman.

Investigators worked through the day Thursday, piecing together events leading to the death of Mary Ellyn Benavidez.

Based on information obtained during their investigation, Norman officers arrested Dustin Dale Allen, 20, later Thursday evening and charged him with first degree murder.

Officers booked Allen into the Cleveland County F. DeWayne Beggs Detention Center. Allen listed an address of 321 SE 39th, Oklahoma City, at the time of booking. He is being held without bond pending formal charges through the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office, according to an NPD news release.

Benavidez was found with a single gunshot wound to the chest about 3:40 a.m. at her home at 1210 Stubbeman Ave., Capt. Tom Easley said. He said she was breathing but unconscious when officers arrived but she died later at Norman Regional Hospital.

Two other people found at the residence are cooperating with police, officials said.

“We do have some folks that we have detained, both witnesses and potential suspects,” Easley said, adding, “this is not a random act. There was a connection between the folks.”

Benavidez’s body has been transported to the state medical examiner’s officer.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Oklahoma Tornado Disoriented and displaced residents make their way back to devastated homes

    Sparks of joy lit up grief-stricken eyes from time to time on Wednesday after Moore residents were allowed back into their neighborhoods for the first time after Monday’s EF-5 tornado devastated much of the city....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • dog_wreckage More shelters in forecast

    MOORE — Ten children are dead, and Mayor Glenn Lewis wants tornado shelters included in all new homes built in Moore. A proposed municipal ordinance would require a shelter either inside or outside....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • clean up 19 School administrators focused on the recovery, future

    MOORE — Just days after Moore Public Schools suffered the loss of nine students and complete destruction of Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary schools, administrators take it a day at a time, as details continue to emerge from affected ...

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Challpress1 State Senate approves $45 million from Rainy Day fund for relief

    OKLAHOMA CITY — The state Senate voted Wednesday to take $45 million from the state Rainy Day Fund for immediate tornado disaster relief....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • tornadomom Mother endures labor during tornado

    Shayla Taylor was ready to give birth to her second child just as the impending destruction of Monday’s EF-5 tornado bore down on the Moore Medical Center....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Oklahoma visitor had brush with tornado’s fury

    MOORE — Tim Lawrence was just in town to visit his family, but he had to huddle close with them in a storm cellar Monday afternoon as the tornado swept through the neighborhood....

    May 23, 2013

  • City manager has been through it all before

    MOORE — Huddled in his city’s emergency operations center Monday afternoon, Moore City Manager Steve Eddy watched as a massive tornado prepared to tear through his community....

    May 23, 2013

  • Families mourn children lost in tornado

    MOORE — Nicknamed “The Wall,” 8-year-old Kyle Davis loved soccer and going to Monster Truck exhibitions at the fairgrounds with his grandfather. JaNae Hornsby, 9, loved to draw, sing, and be a big sister and cousin to her younger ...

    May 23, 2013

  • ‘A lot more good people’

    MOORE — Rosella Poff’s gravestone was laid in Moore Cemetery just nine months ago....

    May 23, 2013

  • Moore and Joplin share common bond in the aftermath

    MOORE — Zach Woodcock knew the storms were going to be bad on May 22, 2011, so turning on the Weather Channel was a natural instinct. What he saw filled him with fear. The Moore resident’s family lived in Joplin, Mo....

    May 23, 2013