By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
MIAMI, Okla. — Three people were charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death Monday night of Samuel Ellison, 22, of Miami, during an apparent home invasion at a Miami residence.
Charged are Jake Lee Payton, 23; Jessica Dawn Logan, 21, and Jarod Wayne Logan, 18. Payton was arrested by Miami police Tuesday. The Logans were arrested by Grove police and the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department.
Officers responded at 11:28 p.m. Monday to a disturbance at 7011⁄2 B St., S.E., and found the stabbing victim lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of the residence, according to a statement released by the Miami Police Department.
Ellison was taken by ambulance to Integris Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami, where he died a short time later, police said. The body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Tulsa for an autopsy.
Police Chief Gary Anderson said the stabbing took place during an apparent burglary of the home. He said that under Oklahoma law, a crime becomes first-degree murder when a death occurs in the commission of a felony.
“The people breaking into the house got into a fight with the people in the house,” Anderson said. “Everybody involved were in their 20s.”
A male resident of the address reportedly told police he stabbed one of the intruders.
Anderson would not discuss how many times the victim was stabbed or with what type of weapon. He also declined to say how many people were involved in the break-in or the ensuing fight.
