Lundin Hathcock and James McDaniel were murdered, seemingly at random, by homeless man last month in Tulsa
EXCLUSIVE – The killings of two unrelated people in Oklahoma by a homeless man last month has made national headlines, but one of the victims’ sisters said the why isn’t as important as the what.
“A bad person made a bad choice and sadly two lives were lost because of it. It’s tragic no matter how you look at it, who did it or why,” Jada Hathcock told Fox News Digital.
On April 18, Carlton Gilford, a homeless man, allegedly shot Jada’s brother Lundin Hathcock, 35, in the head while he was seated at a computer in a Tulsa library. He then went to a nearby QuikTrip convenience store and shot 55-year-old James McDaniel. Hathcock was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, while McDaniel died at the scene.
Gilford is Black and the victims were White, and the case is being treated as a possibly racially motivated hate crime. He reportedly admitted to the shootings to police and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with intent to kill, and one count of malicious intimidation or harassment.
The latter charge is Oklahoma’s version of a hate crime. Under Oklahoma law, there is no specific hate crime statute, but malicious intimidation or harassment includes targeting someone based on their race.