LEFLORE COUNTY (KFSM) -- The LeFlore County Sheriff's Office was investigating a deadly stabbing Wednesday (June 29).
Sheriff's office deputies were called to a home on 238th Avenue near Spiro Tuesday around 7 p.m. for a possible stabbing, according to a probable cause affidavit. When they arrived they found the victim, who has been identified as Dwayne Skelton, laying on the ground in the front yard, the affidavit states.
"Dewayne was gasping for air. He said, 'I can't breathe. I can't breathe.' He was raising up," said Janette Barnes, a family member who lives next door.
Deputies spoke to Larry Eugene Skelton, who was also at the home, after noticing he had blood on his arms and clothing, according to the affidavit. Larry Skelton said the victim accidentally fell on a knife that was laying open on the couch outside the home, the affidavit states.
"I said, 'What happened over here?'", and he said "'He fell over my knife'", said Barnes when she arrived at the home.
Deputies found out a boy had been at the house at the time of the stabbing. He told investigators he was at Larry Skelton's home when Dwayne Skelton came over, picked up a board from the couch in the yard and told the suspect he was going to hit him if he did not leave his wife alone, according to the affidavit. The boy said Dwayne Skelton's wife had told him Larry Skelton had made a lewd comment about her, the affidavit states.
According to the child, Dwayne Skelton started approaching Larry Skelton when Larry Skelton pushed Dwayne Skelton into a truck, stabbed him in the leg with the knife and then twisted it, the affidavit states. Dwayne Skelton fell and Larry Skelton tried to position the knife to make it look like the victim had fallen on it, according to the affidavit.
When he was interviewed, Larry Skelton again told investigators Dwayne Skelton had walked into the knife, but changed his story when confronted with the witness statement, the affidavit states.
Larry Skelton said Dwyane Skelton had hit him with the board, so he stabbed him, but did not mean to stab him that bad, according to the affidavit.
Larry Skelton, 59, was booked into the LeFlore County Detention Center on suspicion of second-degree murder, the affidavit states.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assisted in the investigation.
"He had a heart of gold. He was just a good kid. I miss the fact that he's not here. Our family is so small. Now it's just leaving a void," said family member Jim Skelton.