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Richard Booker
A Mead man has been charged with first-degree manslaughter following the investigation into the death of a woman last year.
Sixty-six-year-old Richard Booker is accused of causing the death of Amanda Welch, 39, during an incident of domestic abuse that happened on April 28, 2023.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was asked to assist in the case by Sheriff Johnny Christian after a 911 dispatcher received a call from Booker, who said Welch was not breathing, according to an affidavit by OSBI special agent Donnie Long.
Booker was instructed to perform CPR on Welch and when EMS arrived on scene, Welch was pronounced dead. Long interviewed Booker and according to the affi davit, he said Welch went to take a shower and that she struck her head on the side of the bathtub when she fell.
He claimed Welch had seizures frequently and she had told him what to do when that happens. He said he stood behind her and held her arms until the seizure subsided, and that it happened again later in the evening and he put her on the couch. The affidavit states Booker claimed she had another seizure later and she began vomiting so he ran next door to borrow a cell phone and dial 911.
According to the affidavit, Dr. Inas Yacoub ruled the cause of death was “acute blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso” and that the cause of death was “unknown.”
Booker agreed to take a polygraph exam, according to the affidavit, and after the exam, he admitted he had been drinking alcohol during the time frame of Welch’s death and that alcohol sometimes made him forget things. When asked by Long if he had been fighting with Welch, he shook his head, “yes,” the affidavit states, and when asked if he had beat on Welch based upon the bruises the medical examiner found, he said he did not use a weapon and although they had fought, he did not intend to kill her.
Booker was arrested last week and booked into the Bryan County Jail on $250,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled March 6.