OKC Man On Trial For 'Street Justice' Killing

<p>A man accused of murder took the stand Wednesday afternoon.&nbsp;</p>

Wednesday, January 24th 2018, 7:14 pm

By: News 9


A man accused of murder took the stand Wednesday afternoon.

Murder defendant Adrian Escajeda, 37, told the court he committed murder for his girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter. His girlfriend, Della Nichols claimed her half-brother molested her daughter.

It’s rare for murder defendants to take the stand but Escajeda explained his actions to jurors. He said on Dec. 5, 2016 Nichols told him her half-brother, 21-year-old Ulises Lopez, sexually abused her daughter.

Escajeda told jurors he went to Lopez’s home in southwest Oklahoma City to confront him about the allegations and beat him up. He said he took duct tape, zip-ties and a fake gun with him.

Escajeda claims Lopez said “sorry” several times during the attack. The accused murderer took that as a confession and that is when he said he snapped and decided to kill him. He admits to wrapping the victim’s head in duct tape, put his hands in zip-ties and pulled a belt around his neck

Several days after the killing, Escajeda, his girlfriend and her daughter fled to Mexico. The couple was captured and brought back to Oklahoma.

Read Related Story: Couple Arrested In Mexico On OKC Murder Charge  

They are both charged with first degree murder, child neglect and possession of methamphetamine and cocaine.

The lead homicide detective testified the little girl was interviewed a number of times about the alleged sexual abuse and in a final interview denied the allegations. She was taken into DHS custody and placed in foster care.

Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday morning. Nichols’s murder trial is slated for April 9. 

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