Police check car running for hours outside KS QuikTrip, arrest murder suspect from Kentucky

Michael Stavola
·2 min read
4

A 24-year-old Kentucky man charged with murder in his home state removed his ankle monitor Wednesday morning and fled before being arrested in El Dorado, officials said.

Samuel Baker, who has been charged in a March 2021 fatal shooting, and 28-year-old Adriana Brown, who officials said fled with Baker, were arrested at a QuikTrip early Wednesday in west El Dorado.

At 3:51 a.m., a QuikTrip employee reported the two people had been in the parking lot in a running white Dodge Charger for a few hours. The vehicle, which had been registered in Illinois, was reported stolen, Chief Michael Holton said.

“Both occupants were later taken into custody without incident but refused to give any information as to who they were,” he said in an email.

They were taken to Butler County Jail where they were identified, he said on Friday, adding that they remained jailed, awaiting extradition to Kentucky.

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky said Baker was awaiting trial at home, after a reduced bond, on an ankle monitor.

“Baker removed his ankle monitoring device and left his home on Hwy 39, Somerset, KY in a 2017 red Chevrolet Corvette,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “It is believed, when Baker fled from the residence he also took a firearm with him. The Corvette has since been recovered in northern Pulaski County. Baker was not with the vehicle.”

Baker was believed to be with Brown in a black Dodge Grand Caravan, the sheriff’s office said.

“He is believed to be armed and dangerous,” the post says.

Baker, who has also been charged with burglary and possession of a gun by a felon, had a trial set for Dec. 4 in the killing of Robert Claunch, according to the Commonwealth Journal.

The shooting happened after Ronald Baker tried to make his son leave the home, the newspaper reported.

“Ronald Baker reported that Claunch told Samuel Baker to leave, then Ronald Baker heard gunshots,” the newspaper reported. “When he returned to the kitchen, he found Claunch on the floor. Samuel Baker had fled the scene.” Claunch died at the scene.