OCPD Investigates Second Homicide Involving Unhoused People In As Many Weeks

The Homeless Alliance's Point In Time Count counted about 1,340 people who experience homelessness in Oklahoma City. Thirty-five percent of the 1,340 live completely outside.

In recent weeks, two encampments have turned into crime scenes. The latest happened Saturday morning near North Western Avenue and the Kilpatrick Turnpike Service Road.

"This was a disturbance or disagreement over a dog that was jointly owned by the victim and one of the suspects," Oklahoma City Police Department public information officer Dillon Quirk said.

Related: Police Investigating NW Oklahoma City Homicide

Police arrested James Guillory and Siera McCoy-Griffen for Saturday's killing. Authorities believe that victim was beaten to death. 

The first homicide happened Aug. 21 near Southwest 24th Street and Brookline Avenue. Authorities said Tony Ivers shot and killed another person who tried to get into his tent. 

The two crimes aren't related. The victims remain nameless.

Encampments and the unsheltered homeless make up more than one-third of OKC’s housing insecure. 

Homeless Alliance associate executive director Meghan Mueller said that number fluctuates with more people on the streets at the ends of the month when benefits such as social security checks run dry.

"Living outdoors can be dangerous, right?” Mueller said. “You don't have a door to lock when you go to bed. You're occupying public space. Your exposure to things like the weather, extreme weather. That risk increases, but your risk of being the victim of a crime also is potentially increased just by nature of living outdoors.”

While they didn't have contact with the two killed, Mueller said the people they serve at the Homeless Alliance are more than clients. They're part of their community.

"Our clients are people that are known to us and they're special,” Mueller said. “They're our neighbors, so when we lose a client, our staff typically take that hard. We try to do a remembrance, and just remember this was a human being. This was someone's mother, father sister, brother. This person was important, and we try to acknowledge that."

If you’d like more information on the Homeless Alliance, click here.