Born pleads guilty to third violent offense
Jan. 16—Kalup Allen Born, convicted killer of two people, recently pleaded guilty to stabbing a fellow inmate while in federal custody.
Born, 25 of Byng, pleaded guilty to one count of "assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm in Indian Country and one count of possessing contraband in prison."
At a plea hearing, Born admitted that on April 24, 2023, while being held as a federal inmate at the Muskogee County Jail, he stabbed a fellow inmate in the neck and head numerous times with a metal shank.
Details of the crime are few as the information is sealed. However, in the plea agreement, Born admitted, "During the assault, I possessed and used a metal shank, which was a prohibited object at the Muscogee County Jail and was intended to be used as a weapon and stabbed C.M. with it numerous times, including at least seven times to his head and neck. I did this with the intent to cause bodily harm to C.M."
The charges arose from an investigation by the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Gerald L. Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea in Muskogee and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.
Born will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.
On February 15, Born is scheduled to be sentenced for the 2017 murder of 70-year-old Ada resident Brenda Carter, for which he pleaded guilty, and for the 2020 beating death of Billy Joe Johnson, 42.
Born is most likely facing 30 to 45 years in federal prison for the murder of Brenda
Carter. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the killing of Johnson after a federal jury found him guilty of manslaughter.
The sentences are expected to run consecutively.
Sentencing for both cases is set for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 15, at the federal courthouse in Muskogee.
The sentence handed down for the murder of Brenda Carter, per a plea agreement, is expected to begin once Born serves time for whatever sentence is imposed for the manslaughter conviction.
In an agreement with the United States government, Born's most serious charge for killing Carter was reduced in late November 2022.
The charge — "murder in perpetration of robbery and kidnapping in Indian Country" — was changed to "murder in Indian Country — second degree."
Born also pleaded guilty to "first-degree burglary in Indian Country, kidnapping in Indian Country, and arson in Indian Country."
On each of the two most serious charges, murder and kidnapping, Born faces up to life in prison. He also faces up to 20 years on each of the two lesser charges. However, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma Christopher Wilson said per the plea agreement, the recommended sentencing range is 360 to 540 months (30-45 years) in prison.
Both the prosecution and the defense submitted a recommendation to the court of that sentencing range.
It will be up to the court whether Born's sentences will run concurrently (together) or consecutively (one after another without interruption).
Additionally, the court is not bound by the recommendation. The court may accept the plea and the recommended sentencing range but may withdraw the guilty plea and both sides would be back to square one.
The court will decide at the sentencing whether or not to accept the plea
agreement.
Born was originally charged by the state in the Carter case, but those charges were dismissed in relation to the "McGirt v. Oklahoma" ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 2020, as Born is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation.
He was later charged in federal court.
Murder of Brenda Carter
In the plea agreement, Born said, "On or about Jan. 15, 2017, I kidnapped, abducted, and carried away Brenda Carter for some benefit, and unlawfully killed her with malice aforethought. I broke into Brenda Carter's residence, kidnapped her at knifepoint, threatened her life, and forced her to drive with me against her will in her vehicle. After a short period, I crashed the vehicle into a ravine. After the crash, I kicked Brenda Carter out of her vehicle into the ravine, and left her there, knowingly leaving her injured, wet, cold, and in need of help. I acted with a callous and wanton disregard for Brenda Carter's life. As a result of the crash and forcing Brenda Carter out of the vehicle into the ravine, she suffered a pelvic fracture and a ruptured bladder. Brenda Carter later died from the injuries I caused as a result of kidnapping her."
Born also confessed that, after he left Carter in a ravine, he later broke into a residence which he burned, saying that he broke in to find car keys and steal a vehicle there. "When I could not locate the car keys, I started a fire in the garage," Born said in the agreement. "This fire spread to the residence, and it burned down."
Both occupants of the residence were in the house at the time, but they were able to escape.
The morning of the kidnapping
On Jan. 15, 2017, emergency officials were called to a house fire near Fittstown.
A passerby saw Born walking south on State Highway 99, not far from the fire. Authorities quickly located and detained him while they investigated.
Pontotoc County Sheriff's Deputies said Born had a strong odor of alcohol when he spoke, and was eventually arrested on suspicion of public intoxication.
Firefighters responding to the fire reported seeing a car in a ditch along SH 99.
Former deputy Kevin Wood responded to the scene of the crashed vehicle.
"I arrived at state Highway 99 and County Road 1670 and observed a vehicle in the creek facing straight up in the air," Wood said in a report. "I exited my patrol vehicle and observed a female subject later identified as Brenda Carter (lying) face up in about eight inches of water. (Carter) was yelling for me to help her. I advised central dispatch to send EMS."
Wood made his way down to Carter, who said she didn't know what happened or how she had gotten there. She was in a lot of pain and unable to walk, she told Wood.
"The water in the creek was extremely cold and she stated she had been there for a while," Wood said. "I was able to carry (her) out of the water and most of the way to the creek bank before Deputy Zubair Khan arrived and helped me get (her) the rest of the way out of the water. EMS arrived and we were able to load (Carter) up on a backboard and carry her under the fencing and loaded her into the ambulance."
Sheriff John Christian said Carter later told authorities a man broke into her Ada home, put a knife to her throat, and threatened to kill her several times.
She told authorities the man took her with him as they drove to Tishomingo in her car, then turned around and drove back toward Ada before the wreck.
Carter was taken by Mercy EMS to Mercy Hospital Ada, then taken by Air Evac Lifeteam to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City and admitted with internal injuries.
Carter spoke to authorities while hospitalized.
"In a statement she made at the hospital, she said Born pushed her out of the car," Christian said. "We initially thought she just fell, but she said he pushed her out."
After a lengthy hospital stay, Carter was eventually transferred to a rehabilitation facility, where she died about five months later.
According to federal court documents, "The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined Carter died on June 7, 2017, from multiple blunt force trauma due to being pushed from a motor vehicle."
The manner of death was listed as homicide.
Manslaughter conviction
In December 2020, while still in state custody at the Pontotoc County Justice Center, Born killed Johnson, a fellow inmate.
He was tried in 2022 in federal court for that case and was convicted of a lesser charge than what the federal government was seeking.
According to a federal court document, a federal jury found Born not guilty of first-degree murder in Indian Country, not guilty of second-degree murder in Indian Country, but guilty of voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country.
According to federal law, "voluntary" is described as "upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion."
The law also goes on to read, "Within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, whoever is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both."
Born and Johnson were incarcerated in a segregation pod in the Justice Center when Johnson was killed, according to Sheriff Christian.
Christian said video footage shows on Dec. 14, 2020, Born walked over to Johnson, and, after words were exchanged, Born "sucker punched" Johnson, knocking him to the ground.
Christian said Born then began stomping on Johnson's head. Video footage shows that Born stomped on Johnson's head more than two dozen times, according to a court affidavit.
Johnson was hospitalized but succumbed to his injuries on Dec. 19, 2020.
