Exercising the Right
Ended by an AR-15
Tulsa World reported on March 30 out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, about a self-defense shooting story that would eventually gain national attention due to the unique details of the case. The fact that it involved an AR-15, three deceased suspects who were relatively young, and a getaway driver charged with the murder of her accomplices made it newsworthy. The deceased suspects, 18-year-old Maxwell Cook, 18-year-old Jacob Redfearn, and 15-year-old Jaykob Woodruff, allegedly had already burglarized the homeowners once earlier that day and were returning to steal from them a second time. Investigators say the crime was planned by 21-year-old Elizabeth Rodriguez, who acted as the getaway driver for her criminal accomplices.
In the house was 23-year-old Zach Peters, who was home when he heard the sound of the intruders returning. Peters grabbed an AR-15 and confronted the intruders. Fearing for his life, Peters fired at the intruders, hitting all three men. Two of the suspects fell to the floor in the kitchen, where they later died, and a third suspect was able to exit the home but collapsed outside in the driveway. Peters called 911 to report the home invasion and subsequent shooting and told the dispatcher that he believed he only shot two of the suspects. “Three men — two I’ve shot in my house,” Peters can be heard saying to the 911 operator.
“Two are still in my house.... I shot two of them and now I’m barricaded in my bedroom,” Peters told the 911 operator. Deputies arrived on the scene and found the lifeless bodies of the suspects. Police also found a knife on one suspect and brass knuckles on another. Rodriguez fled the scene in her car as soon as the shooting occurred but then turned herself in shortly thereafter. Police arrested Rodriguez for planning the burglary and driving her accomplices to the scene of the crime on two separate occasions for the intended purpose of stealing from the homeowners. Rodriguez was booked into the Wagoner County Jail without bail on three charges of first-degree murder under the state’s felony murder rule. In Oklahoma, a defendant who was involved in the commission of a felony can be charged with murder for any deaths that occur during the felony, even if the defendant was not directly responsible for the death. Rodriguez likewise was charged with three counts of first-degree burglary.
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