Pettit was sentenced in April 2005 to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which was the jury’s recommendation after she was found guilty of murdering her 6-year-old son in her first trial. Pettit appealed the conviction and in 2006 the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction and remanded the case back to district court for re-trial. Pettit’s new trial date was set for April 27.
In August 2008, DNA testing caused the August 2008 trial to be continued. Pettit’s re-trial was continued at the defense’s request in order to conduct testing on items found in the house.
John Luton, first assistant district attorney, said the defense wanted to conduct their own testing on a shoe, which had blood on it, found outside Pettit’s trailer. He said they wanted to test the blood for DNA purposes. He also said the defense also wanted DNA testing done on the handle of a knife, which had blood on it, found in a bathtub in the home.
A motion for trial continuance was filed Aug. 8, according to court documents. The defense requested serology and DNA testing on the two items of evidence in an effort to discover exculpatory evidence in favor of the defense. The case has been continued since Aug. 18 to allow for the completion of the testing.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) did not complete the DNA testing until April 22 and the defense did not receive the OSBI report until April 29, which was 12 days before trial was to commence on Monday.
After a hearing in district court Thursday, District Judge Jeff Payton announced that Pettit’s trial, which was set for Monday, would be continued because DNA testing found on a shoe near the defendant’s premises came back as an unknown female subject.
Luton said the defense for Petit is now requesting materials that the OSBI has in their custody, an examination report (serology) and the DNA, provided to the defense prior to trial to enable the defense to use at trial.
Pettit was convicted in March 2005 of first-degree murder for the April 2000 death of her 6-year-old son, David Adam Andy Ray Pettit. Sequoyah County sheriff’s deputies found Adam dead in Pettit’s mobile home. His decomposing body was found on the bed beside his mother, who had lacerations to her wrists and ankles. Throughout Pettit’s 2005 trial, the prosecution conjectured that Pettit gave Adam cough syrup to make him fall asleep and then smothered him before she tried to overdose on antidepressants According to court records the Oklahoma Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) may contain a profile that can lead to another suspect in the death of Pettit’s 6-year-old son.
