Tyrone Peter Darks #4

Fourth murderer to be executed in the U.S. in 2004.
Executed January 13, 2004 at 6:08 p.m. in Oklahoma by lethal injection.

Summary of the Murder: Tyrone Darks followed his ex-wife as she left church, eventually forcing her car off the road and fatally shooting her.

Murderer - Tyrone Peter Darks

• Date of Birth - August 26, 1964
  
• Race - Black
  
• Sex - Male
  
• Age when crime committed - 29
  
• Age when executed - 39
  
• Date of Sentence - November 20, 1995

Victim - Sherry Goodlow

• Date of Murder - August 7, 1994
  
• Race - Black
  
• Sex - Female
  
• Age when murdered - 26
  
• Method of Murder - Handgun
  
• Relationship to Murderer - Ex-wife

On August 7, 1994, Sherry Goodlow attended church with her two-year-old son Scott, whose father was Darks. Afterwards, Sherry, Scott, and friends of Sherry went to the grocery store. Sherry declined a dinner invitation with her friends saying she wanted to go home. She left with Scott around 2:20 p.m.

At 2:52 Sherry called 911, saying that Darks had run her off the road and taken her son Scott, who she had full custody of. She was told that a police officer would meet her at Darks's home.

Sherry placed a second call to 911 asking why there was no officer at the Darks's home. The dispatcher explained that the officer had been delayed.

At 3:27, Sergeant Ken Davis arrived at Darks's house but Sherry was not there. Darks's mother told the officer that she had not seen or spoken to Sherry all day. Within 30 minutes, the body of Sherry Goodlow was found slumped over in her car. She had been shot four times.

Witnesses told police that they saw a car following Sherry, and had witnessed her screaming and speeding up as if trying to get away from whoever was following her. The car that was described matched the description of Darks's car.

Police were dispatched to Darks' home. Darks told police that Sherry Goodlow had asked him to pick up their son, which he did, and had spent the later part of his day at the mall.

Darks went to the police station for further questioning where he continued to deny killing Sherry but told the police that he felt she had gotten what she deserved.

Darks was placed under arrest and put in jail. While there, Darks told several inmates that he killed Sherry. He said he followed her from church and had taken his child. She then followed him to Draper Lake at which time he shot her twice in the head and three to four times in the back with a .38 caliber handgun.

Darks's mother testified that Darks and Sherry had a good relationship. Sherry's father and other family members described the relationship as stormy and violent. Sherry's father also testified that Darks called him two days before the murder and made suggestive comments about his plans to kill Sherry.

Several inmates testified that Darks said he killed Sherry.

Darks was found guilty of 1st-degree murder of Sherry Goodlow.

While on death row, Darks was indicted on January 2003, for trying to defraud up to $1 million from the compensation fund set up for victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.

While awaiting execution Darks sent letters made to look like a sworn affidavit from a recently executed inmate, claiming that the inmate had been the real killer of Darks's wife.

• Darks v. Mullin, 124 S.Ct. 433 (2003) (Cert. Denied)
  
• Darks v. State, 954 P.2d 152 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998) (Direct Appeal)
  
• Darks v. State, 954 P.2d 169 (Okla. Crim. App. 1998) (PCR)
  
• Darks v. Mullin, 327 F.3rd 1001 (10th Cir. April 12, 2003)

On the day of his execution, Darks was served his last meal of hot sauce, six extra crispy chicken breasts, six rolls, a bag of jelly beans, a bag of red licorice, six glazed lemon donuts and six cream sodas.

His final words were, "Y'all take care of yourselves. Do what you can for Scott. I'll see y'all later. This is it. It's over. Praise the Lord! Praise God! Whoooo!"

On January 13, 2004, Darks was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. from lethal injection.