PAYNE COUNTY, Oklahoma – A 97-year-old Payne County man has been charged with first degree murder after police say he admitted to shooting his granddaughter, 30-year-old. Sonja James. Russell Eugene Dawes reportedly told authorities “I got tired of her carrying on and I shot her.”
According to the affidavit, Dawes called a local funeral director at around 9 a.m Thursday morning to help with a dead body. When the man arrived, Dawes admitted that he shot her. The funeral director then called authorities who say they found the granddaughter’s body on the bed in the north east corner bedroom of the house. There was an apparent gunshot wound on the victim’s chin area.
Dawes was being held in the Payne County jail and court records do not list an attorney for him.