OK County jail inmate sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing cellmate

Jack Money, Oklahoman
·2 min read
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A man accused of beating his cellmate to death at the Oklahoma County jail was ordered to prison for 30 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

Shaquile Brown, 29, confessed to beating Brad Lane with his own medical walking boot in early 2021.

Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo last week sentenced Brown to a life term, with the first 30 years to be served in prison and the rest suspended.

Lane was beaten to death Jan. 2, 2021, as he screamed for 40 minutes for help.

During the beating, an inmate from a nearby cell on the jail's medical floor called over and over on his wall phone for help. No one came until it was too late.

A jailer making a routine cell check found the 40-year-old Lane dead in his 13th floor cell and his cellmate, Brown, with a metal object in his hand.

Investigators later determined the calls for help went unanswered because a phone that should have rang had been muted.

The incident and the lack of response was investigated by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Oklahoma County's district attorney.

Brown confessed after being taken to a hospital for a mental assessment, the OSBI reported. The medical examiner’s office listed Lane’s cause of death as blunt force trauma and manner of death as a homicide.

Brown had been arrested the month before and charged with attempted robbery, aggravated assault and battery, and possession of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty last week to those crimes, too.

Lane, meanwhile, was awaiting a preliminary hearing after being accused of possessing a stolen vehicle, obstructing an officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.

A lawsuit over Lane's death was filed in January against the trust that operates the jail and Oklahoma County commissioners. Another lawsuit was recently filed over an inmate's 2021 suicide.

The lawsuits could result in jury verdicts or settlements totaling millions of dollars. Property taxes in Oklahoma County would go up to pay them off.

Oklahoma County paid a $1.1 million settlement last year over the 2017 death of an inmate who was shot by pepper balls at close range as many as 16 times.

Staff writer Nolan Clay contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK County jail inmate gets 30 years in prison for killing cellmate