Crime

State Seeks Death Penalty For Lawyer Who Dated Client, Allegedly Helped Him Plan Murder

The allegations are disturbing.

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Barry Roland Titus II and Keegan Kelley Harroz

Oklahoma is seeking the death penalty for attorney Keegan Kelley Harroz and her former client and lover, Barry Roland Titus II. The pair are accused of three counts of deliberate and intentional first-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary. The charges stem from the September 2019 murders of Titus’s ex-girlfriend Tiffany Eichor and her parents Jack Chandler and Evelynn Chandler.

According to court documents, the defendants broke into a house where the victims were “by forcibly kicking open the front door of said dwelling house and entering without the consent of the occupant with the intent to commit the crimes of Murder in the First Degree.” As reported by Law & Crime, the state points to a number of aggravating factors in seeking the death penalty:

Among the five factors listed in support of the death penalty as to Harroz are that (1) the defendant allegedly “created a great risk of death to more than one person”; (2) that the killing of Eichor was “especially heinous” and involved “serious physical abuse, torture, and pain”; (3) that the killing of Evelynn Chandler was “especially heinous” in that it involved Evelynn hiding in her closet while the other two victims were shot and killed; (4) that the killings of the Chandlers were attempts to avoid prosecution for the murder of Eichor; and (5) that the defendant has a previous history of violence and would likely commit future crimes.

A similar document as to Titus alleges that the killing of Eichor was an attempt by Titus to avoid prosecution for domestic abuse, assault and battery, strangulation, and kidnapping.

Prior to the murders, Titus faced felony charges of assault of Eichor. Harroz represented Titus in that case.

During the course of the investigation, authorities also found evidence Harroz engaged in some witness intimidation of the Eichor/Chandler family:

Also during the investigation, it was learned that in January, 2019 the Sheriff’s Office responded to [the victims’] address when the homeowners found a suspicious package of a powdery substance under the porch. The substance was seized by law enforcement, and tested for controlled substances which were negative. During the investigation of the homicides, it was discovered that one Jose Uribe, a defendant in a drug trafficking case in Oklahoma County, admitted he had planted this package. He explained that in an effort to obtain a lighter sentence, he had been attempting to work with law enforcement to provide information helpful to the prosecution. He advised that his attorney, Keegan Kelley Harroz, approached him in January, 2019, and asked him to plant what he believed to be methamphetamine at this residence. She explained this was an act of revenge because one of the individuals living at that residence had testified against one of her clients. She also instructed Uribe to contact his handler with the Drug Task Force and advise them drugs were being sold out of this house. As a result of this information, charges were filed on September 13, 2019 in Okmulgee County against Ms. Harroz for Witness Intimidation. She was arrested on the same date. Those charges remain pending.

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Harroz is currently serving a 24-month sentence after pleading guilty in September 2020 to federal weapons charges:

“Specifically, Harroz admitted that, on or about August 4, 2019, she possessed a firearm in violation of federal law because she was subject to a state-court victim protective order at the time she possessed the firearm,” the feds noted in a press release.

Attorneys for Harroz and Titus have not issued a statement on the charges they face.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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