Under terms of the plea deal, Adacia Chambers would receive a life sentence for each murder count to run concurrently plus 10 years, concurrently, for each of 39 assault counts
Adacia Chambers received a life sentence for each murder count, to run concurrently, plus 10 years for the assaults on the victims who survived.VIDEO: Attorneys react to Adacia Chambers' plea
Adacia Chambers, 26, was sentenced in Payne County District Court after pleading no contest to four counts of second-degree murder and 39 counts of assault and battery.
Chambers’ attorneys had argued in pretrial hearings that she had a mental illness and was experiencing a psychiatric episode at the time of the crash.
Speaking at a press conference in October 2015 with Adacia Chambers’ aunt, Lynda Branstetter, and her boyfriend, Jesse Gaylord, Floyd Chambers said all those who knew her said just a day before the accident she appeared “happy, funny,” and had no drug or alcohol problems they were aware of.
A woman becomes emotional as she leaves Adacia Chambers’s plea and sentencing hearing at the Payne County Courthouse in Stillwater on Tuesday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Floyd Chambers, the father of Adacia Chambers, stands with associate defense attorney Antuanya DeBose (center) and forensic psychologist Shawn Roberson as he speaks to reporters at the Payne County Courthouse on Tuesday. His daughter had just pleaded guilty and been sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for killing four people and injuring 39 more at the Oklahoma State University Homecoming parade in 2015. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World
Many of the victims who addressed Chambers and Kistler expressed anger over their losses and emphasized repeatedly that they did not want Chambers to have the opportunity to hurt others again. They cried as they told positive stories of the people they loved, which have been overshadowed by constant reminders of what they said Chambers took from them.
26, 2015, found that she was suffering from “acute psychosis.” He cited reports from both her family and jail staff about her impaired mental state. Since being placed on a regimen of antidepressant and antipsychotic medications in custody, he said, her condition has improved to the point where she can articulate what she wants to do with her case and understand the charges against her.
In accepting the plea deal, Chambers said her prayers were with the victims and that she lamented her inability to change what occurred.
Coleman said during a news conference after the hearing that Chambers is essentially a “sacrificial lamb” for the state of mental health treatment in Oklahoma, telling reporters that “the system failed her” when she was subjected to inadequate care throughout her life before her arrest.
Before Kistler accepted Chambers’ plea, he asked her multiple questions to gauge her ability to understand what she was doing. She told him the purpose of the hearing was “to plead no contest” to the charges.
The attorney for Chambers said he feels she was “absolutely” suicidal and suffering from mental health issues. He does not believe alcohol was involved in the crash.
In front of the courthouse Monday, Chambers re-iterated his earlier statements, and added support for the victims, saying “we’re all Oklahomans.” He said that the Chambers family has lived in Oologah since the 1950s, and that drugs “are not a thing” with him and his extended family. He added that there “may have underlying problems I wasn’t fully aware of,” but that his dauughter would not commit this crime willingly.
According to Mark Thompson, the owner of Freddy’s, Adacia is “an excellent employee,” who “didn’t appear to be under the influence (when she left).” It is unknown if Thompson was at the restaurant during Chambers’ early departure.
Adacia Chambers, 26, was sentenced in Payne County District Court after pleading no contest to four counts of second-degree murder and 39 counts of assault and battery.
Chambers’ attorneys had argued in pretrial hearings that she had a mental illness and was experiencing a psychiatric episode at the time of the crash.
Speaking at a press conference in October 2015 with Adacia Chambers’ aunt, Lynda Branstetter, and her boyfriend, Jesse Gaylord, Floyd Chambers said all those who knew her said just a day before the accident she appeared “happy, funny,” and had no drug or alcohol problems they were aware of.