Griffith’s bail reduced on warrant for intimidating witness

NEWKIRK — Mitch Griffith, 57, previously arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Vinson Alan Kendrick, 35, turned himself in Wednesday afternoon to the Kay County Sheriff’s Department on a new warrant for intimidation of a state’s witness.

Griffith posted a bond on the new warrant and was released Wednesday afternoon, according to the Kay County Detention Center’s booking officer. The bond originally was set for $50,000 but was reduced to $25,000, according to the Ponca City Police Department.

Griffith was arrested Nov. 10 by the Ponca City Police Department and charged with the shooting death of Kendrick, which occurred Sept. 18. Officers found Kendrick’s body in the yard of a boarding house at Second Street and Cherry Avenue in Ponca City, according to police spokeswoman Sherry Bowers.

Police were alerted to the shooting death by a driver on South Avenue who reported he was flagged over by an intoxicated woman. She led police to 802 South Second Street where Griffith and Kendrick both lived. Police recovered the firearm the might of the shooting.

The woman was arrested on a complaint of public intoxication, Bowers said.

Bowers said witnesses told officers that both men had been drinking before they heard gunshots. Kendrick was not armed, Bowers said.