Oklahoma City man makes deal to avoid death penalty for four murders

Months after getting out of prison in 2017, convicted robber Mario James Normore went on a killing spree in Oklahoma City that left four dead.

He also went back to robbing, hitting banks and dollar stores across the city before being arrested.

Since then, he has assaulted guards in the Oklahoma County jail, participated in a riot and been caught with improvised weapons.

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to those crimes and was ordered back to prison for the rest of his life.

The outcome was the result of a plea deal. It also is the second time this month that prosecutors in Oklahoma have decided in a multiple murder case not to seek the death penalty at trial.

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Prosecutors said Normore, now 31, got a deal “in the interest of justice, and to satisfy the desire of the families for a conclusion nearly six years after the murder of their loved ones."

Oklahoma County District Judge K. Nikki Kirkpatrick accepted the deal but did ask the prosecutor in court if it was fair to justice.

"Yes," Assistant District Attorney Sam Chavers said.

Normore wiped tears from his eyes in court as he listened to statements from the families of his victims.

Under the deal, he was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole on the murders.

"The consecutive sentences ensure Mr. Normore is never released from prison,” prosecutors told The Oklahoman in an email.

He also was sentenced to prison for 10 armed robberies and his crimes in jail. He will serve all those sentences at the same time.

In his guilty plea, he admitted killing the first time on July 10, 2017. He had been been released from prison two months earlier, after completing an eight-year sentence for robbery.

He had asked a co-worker at a recycling business for a ride home, according to evidence in the case. He shot the co-worker, Bashar Burks, 27, of Oklahoma City, in the head from the back seat of the car. He then killed the co-worker's girlfriend, Ashley Easton, 30, of Yukon.

He later said he shot Burks after a disagreement.

"He just said he moved funny," a witness, Brandon Lee Butler, testified at a preliminary hearing. "He had it in his head ... that the guy was reaching for a gun or something. He told me the girl started screaming, the girl that was driving, and he shoots her in the head as well."

Normore then went on a string of robberies to get money "to get out of town," according to the testimony. Butler was the getaway driver.

Normore next killed an acquaintance, Searra Howe, to use her car to drive to a bank robbery. Butler said she was killed after they took her to the woods.

Butler offered to kill her himself but actually planned to let her go, according to his testimony. He told her to run or play dead and he would shoot up in the air. As he worked to untie her, Normore came up, asked why it was taking so long and took over.

Howe, 20, of Midwest City, was shot in the head on Aug. 18, 2017. Her body was not found for two months.

The fourth murder victim was James Steven Knowles, a maintenance man at an apartment complex. Normore had worked for the victim, painting apartments to rent again.

Normore admitted with his guilty plea that he killed Knowles on Oct. 3, 2017. He had told Butler that "Steve had to go" for being a snitch.

He told another witness he killed Knowles over money. "He just said he owed him $20 and he was talking some smack about it," that witness, Henry Long, said at the preliminary hearing.

Knowles was 57. His body has never been found.

Normore also tried to kill Butler later in 2017, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing. The two are cousins.

"I hear the the gun going, 'Click, click, click,'" Butler testified. "It just didn't go off."

Normore had been living in Oklahoma City with his mother for a while in 2017 before being kicked out, police reported at the time.

Butler, now 32, was charged over three of the robberies. That case and two 2018 drug cases are still pending.

Normore's case is the latest involving homicide to be wrapped up since District Attorney Vicki Behenna took office in January. The outcome is being criticized. The previous DA, David Prater, had sought the death penalty in 2019, calling Normore "a continuing threat to society."

During a campaign debate last year, Behenna said the death penalty should be considered only for the most heinous of crimes.

More:Oklahoma County's new DA Vicki Behenna gets first guilty verdict at murder trial

After the sentencing, the mother of the first victim said she was not told why prosecutors did not go ahead on their request for the death penalty.

"I'm not mad about it," Darlene Burks told The Oklahoman. "He did get four life sentences. So, it's just a blessing.

"We just praise God for giving us the peace."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Quadruple murderer Mario Normore makes deal to avoid death penalty