Lincoln County District Attorney Allan Grubb filed a first-degree manslaughter charge against Sen. Allison Ikley-Freeman on Monday, more than five months after she crashed her car on the Turner Turnpike and killed 44-year-old Enrique Lopez.
Ikley-Freeman (D-Tulsa) was severely injured in the May 22 collision, which occurred just west of the Stroud exit in the westbound lanes of the turnpike. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol at the time, Lopez was sitting in his car on the side of the road after spinning out on the rainy Friday morning. Ikley-Freeman also slid off the roadway and into Lopez’s parked vehicle.
Grubb’s charge is based on vehicle computer data showing that she was traveling 91 miles per hour during the storm, which is 16 miles per hour above the posted speed limit. In seeking a first-degree manslaughter charge, the district attorney’s is arguing that Ikley-Freeman was violating multiple state laws at the time she crashed into Lopez’s 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and killed him.
Grubb’s charge comes less than a week after Ikley-Freeman lost her Tulsa-area seat in the Oklahoma State Senate to Republican Cody Rogers.
In an interview with NonDoc prior to the election, Ikley-Freeman briefly discussed the car wreck.
“It was a tragedy, but sometimes they’re unavoidable,” Ikely-Freeman said in October. “I’m walking again, albeit much slower, but it just takes a lot of time for bones to heal.”
Monday evening, she also declined comment on the charges, but her attorney provided a statement.
“Having just received a copy of the allegations, it would be improper to release a statement before reviewing the allegations,” said John Hunsucker. “However, we believe that when the facts are completely vetted, it will show that this was a tragic unavoidable accident. Our sympathies (are) for the family of Mr. Lopez.”
While online court records show Grubb filed the charge at some point Monday, the charging document was not immediately available online that evening. A preliminary hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7. Records indicate Ikley-Freeman posted a $10,000 bond with Lincoln County.
Probable cause affidavit
NonDoc obtained the charging documents and affidavit of probable cause for arrest warrant from the Lincoln County court clerk Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Embedded below, the document details results of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s investigation. The affidavit of probable cause for arrest, written by Trooper Shane Ballard, states that Ikley-Freeman told a separate trooper that she had been driving with her cruise control set to “approximately 75 miles per hour.”
But computer data taken from her 2015 Honda CRV later showed her to have been traveling 91 miles per hour five seconds prior to the collision and 90 miles per hour three seconds prior.
“Allison Ikley-Freeman was traveling 91 miles per hour, which is 16 mph over the posted speed limit, in weather conditions described as heavy rain and moderate wind gusts by three separate witnesses,” Ballard wrote in the affidavit. “Allison Ikley-Freeman was operating her vehicle in complete disregard to the motoring public and was in the process of committing several misdemeanor crimes, those being: 1. Speeding, 2. Reckless driving, 3. Operating a vehicle at a speed greater than reasonable and proper for the weather conditions and 4. [Failure] to stay in a single lane of travel, when the collision resulting in the death of Enrique Lopez occurred.”
Ballard signed the affidavit Aug. 25, and a district court judge approved the arrest warrant Nov. 5.
Background on Allison Ikley-Freeman
A mental health professional, Ikley-Freeman took office after an upset victory in a 2017 special election for the west Tulsa State Senate district.
According to her Senate bio, Ikley-Freeman received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical mental health from Northeastern State University. She and her wife, Dawn, have two sons and a daughter.
(Update: This article was updated at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, to include the charging documents against Sen. Allison Ikley-Freeman.)
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