Muskogee Police arrest man accused of slaying brother, 5 young children

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A Muskogee man charged with killing five children and his brother in February led authorities on a short foot pursuit before being handcuffed and then told his arresting officers to “please watch over y’all kids, man.”

An officer is seen on police-provided bodycam footage firing a shot at the man, Jarron Deajon Pridgeon, while yelling that Pridgeon had a gun in his hand as he attempted to run from the area.

Pridgeon, 25, has been in custody since Feb. 2 on six first-degree murder charges related to the shootings of five children, all under the age of 10, as well as his brother, Javareon Lee, that day in the 900 block of East Indiana Street in Muskogee.

The five children who died were Jalaiya Pridgeon, 1; Jaidus Pridgeon, 3; Harmony Anderson, 5; Neveah Pridgeon, 6; and Que’dynce Anderson, 9.

Pridgeon is also charged with felony assault and battery on an allegation that he shot the mother of the children, who survived and testified against him Wednesday in a closed preliminary hearing.

District Judge Bret Smith barred media and other spectators from listening to the proceedings. The nonprofit Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is expected to appeal Smith’s decision to close the preliminary hearing on behalf of the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper and other media that attempted to observe testimony.

On Wednesday the judge signed an order indicating that “the public has a right to access portions” of body camera footage used in the case.

He identified six video recordings showing some part of Pridgeon’s arrest and outlined how much of each one should be made public, saying the portions he withheld are “particularly graphic and disturbing.”

Muskogee police had said on the day of the homicides that officers responding to reports that shots had been fired about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 2 saw an armed man, later identified as Pridgeon.

On the released video, an officer can be heard telling Pridgeon, “Drop what’s in your right hand slowly. Slowly put it down,” after being told by a colleague that the man had a gun. A few seconds later, the officer yells, “He’s running!” before firing a shot at him with a long gun.

Other officers’ body camera footage shows that they ran after Pridgeon for a short time before he was apprehended.

“Can I say something?” Pridgeon is heard telling one of the officers during his arrest. The officer was in the process of searching Pridgeon’s pockets and said he recovered a set of brass knuckles, then asked Pridgeon who was in the home.

After Pridgeon says there were eight children in the residence, he asked, “Can you all please take me serious right now?”

“Please, I know this will sound and weird and stuff, but please: Watch over y’all kids, man,” Pridgeon said to the officer. He later is heard telling the same officer to “Look up meditation, seven chakras, real s—-.”

Defense attorney Gretchen Mosley referenced the comments during her arguments in Smith’s courtroom on Wednesday, saying it was clear that her client has experienced “some real mental health issues” in his present and past.

Court records from an unrelated felony assault case, for which Smith imposed a 10-year prison sentence against Pridgeon on Wednesday, indicate that Pridgeon had a mental health evaluation before attorneys came to an agreement on a proposed deferred sentence.

Mosley claimed there was insufficient evidence to support the charges that Pridgeon killed the children, though she acknowledged it was possible to infer that Pridgeon shot Lee. However, she claimed that Lee could have had involvement in the children’s deaths.

But Muskogee County District Attorney Orvil Loge pointed to, among other issues, Pridgeon’s being the only adult in the residence who was not injured.

He also said the surviving mother testified about seeing Pridgeon with a weapon in his hand while he was still in the house. In one of the videos, an officer who directs Pridgeon to show his hands and walk backward is heard saying that “we have blood on the suspect.”

Pridgeon is due back in court Sept. 2 for trial court arraignment before District Judge Tim King. Muskogee County First Assistant District Attorney Larry Edwards said Wednesday that prosecutors are evaluating whether to seek the death penalty.