OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami, Thursday secured committee passage of a bill that would add accessory to murder in the first or second degree to the list of crimes that would require an offender to serve 85% of their prison sentence before being eligible for consideration for parole. Those convicted also would not be eligible to earn any type of credits that would reduce the sentence to below 85% of what was imposed.
House Bill 1001 is named Lauria and Ashley’s Law after 16-year-olds Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, of Welch, who were kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed on New Year’s Eve 1999. It is presumed their bodies were dumped in a Pitcher mine pit, but their remains have not been recovered. Ashley’s parents, Danny and Kathy Freeman, were shot to death in the crime. Their remains were found in their mobile home that had been set on fire.
“This bill is named after two girls in my House district who had unspeakable things happen to them,” Bashore explained to committee members. “Yet the person who admitted to participating in this crime served less than three years in prison and had his prison sentence reduced because of credits earned for thing such as maintaining good hygiene. He then was allowed to move less than 20 miles from the mother of one of the girls. This law is trying to keep these type of perpetrators in prison for at least 85% of the time to which they are sentenced.”
HB1001 passed in the House Civil Judiciary Committee on a vote of 6 to 1, with one Democrat dissenting. The measure now is eligible to be considered in the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight.
Bashore said a similar bill passed the House last year with an overwhelming majority, but the bill was not considered in the Senate.
The legislation addresses the reduced prison sentence of a man charged with accessory to felony murder in the case. Ronnie Busick in 2020 received a 10-year prison sentence with five years’ probation, but only one year supervised. Because of good-days earned while incarcerated as well as time credited while in a county jail, Busick was released after just three years in prison. He was released back into the community where the crimes were committed, in close proximity to where family members of the victims still live.
It is reported that Busick received a lessened sentence in exchange for information leading to the discovery of the teens’ bodies. They still have not been found.
Bashore said this would assure family members of other felony murder victims going forward that any person convicted and sentenced to participating in such a crime would have a lengthier time behind bars.
—Steve Bashore serves District 7 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes Ottawa County and parts of Craig and Delaware counties.
