According to the felony jury trial docket for October, seven cases are set for trial from Oct. 9 through 20 in Sequoyah County District Court in Sallisaw.
The first case scheduled for jury trial is set for Oct. 10 and will decide the fate of German Sanchez, who is charged with shooting with intent to kill. Sanchez is accused of shooting his brother-in-law three times in the head, for an unknown reason, at a his brother-in-law's home north of Muldrow on Nov. 17. Following the incident, Sheriff's deputies followed a blood trail to a patch of tall weeds about 150 yards from the shooting scene, where they discovered Sanchez hiding, deputies reported.
On Oct. 12, a Muldrow man is expected to face trial on various sex crimes involving a girl who was 12 years old at the time she was allegedly assaulted.
Ray J. McGrew, 33, faces four counts of first-degree rape, one count of indecent exposure, one count of making lewd proposals to a minor child, and one count of rape by instrumentation.
According to court records, McGrew allegedly confessed to having intercourse with the girl on at least three separate instances in his home in Muldrow. He also confessed to other sex crimes involving the girl that allegedly occurred between June 1, 2002, and June 30, 2003.
The girl revealed last year what had allegedly happened to her, when charges were filed against McGrew.
On Oct. 16, juries are expected to start the trials of two Sequoyah County residents, one of whom is accused of second-degree murder while the other one is accused of rape.
Joanne Vada Holman, 50, faces second-degree murder for the death of her 86-year-old mother, Pearl Burkhart of Sallisaw, last year. Holman was first charged with neglect by a caretaker after her mother was found emaciated, with deep bed sores and maggots in her wounds, in a home the two women shared in Sallisaw. After Burkhart died, the charge against Holman was amended to second-degree murder.
Holman was bound over for trial in June. She continues to be held in the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw on a $110,000 bond.
In another case that is expected to be heard before a jury on Oct. 16, Terry Gene Williams, 22, is facing four counts of first-degree rape and two counts of lewd molestation in connection with the assault of two young boys. The alleged sexual abuse took place at the boys' Gore home and at Webbers Falls Lock and Dam No. 16.
Williams was bound over after his Jan. 31 preliminary hearing.
The 2002 case of a Sallisaw man accused of molestation and whose competency was previously questioned is expected to go to trial on Oct. 17.
Hamilton Clinton Bell, 62, is charged with three counts of lewd molestation and making a lewd proposal. He is accused of the 2002 molestation of two young girls. While Bell's competency was questioned in April, he was found competent to stand trial in June.
Bell was charged in 2002 with three counts of felony lewd molestation and two felony counts of lewd proposals to a minor child after two young girls reported to authorities that Bell had sexually assaulted them. The victims in the case, who were 7 and 8 years old at the time of the alleged incidents, described various incidents in which Bell allegedly molested them.
Another Sequoyah County man will face trial on Oct. 19 on various sexual assault counts.
Jackie Don Leroy McGarrah, 36, was charged last year with two counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation. He is accused of assaulting a seven-year-old female relative in March 2005 in his home south of Sallisaw.
The victim was taken to the child advocacy center in Sallisaw after a report of child abuse was filed, according to court records. During a police interview, the child described what happened to her on two separate instances in her home.
Also on Oct. 19, a jury will hear a 2003 assault and battery case. Jerry D. Harl, 22, is charged with four counts of assault and battery on a police officer stemming from a Sept. 6, 2003, incident in which Harl is accused of assaulting a Gans police officer, a trooper and a Sequoyah County Sheriff's deputy.
