Tulsan Charged With Cutting Corpse At Funeral Caught On Video Attacking Another Woman

The woman accused of attacking a corpse at a funeral home was in court on Thursday. At the time of her arrest, Smith was already on a deferred sentence for assaulting another woman.<br/>

Thursday, May 7th 2015, 6:42 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsan Charged With Cutting Corpse At Funeral Caught On Video Attacking Another Woman

The woman accused of attacking a corpse at a funeral home was in court on Thursday.

The Tulsa County district attorney charged Shaynna Smith (aka Shaynna Sims) with five felonies, including first-degree burglary, illegal dissection of a human body and disturbing the funeral of her husband's lifelong female friend.

It turns out, at the time of her arrest at the funeral home, Smith was already on a deferred sentence for assaulting another woman in February.

That time, it was caught on tape, and the victim told her story exclusively to News On 6.

Christina Perez said she's been the victim of Smith since last July. She says the harassment and stalking got so bad, she finally went to the Tulsa County Courthouse to file a petition for a protective order against her and Smith assaulted her.

In surveillance video, you can see Smith with a baby on her hip by the courthouse elevators. She uses her child to bump into Perez, who is standing in the courthouse hallway.

"That's when [Smith] starts screaming, ‘Someone help! She hit my baby!' Her and her husband both, they're some good actors, let me tell you,” Perez said.

Deputies took Perez into a room and she begged them to check the tape, which they did, and they saw what really happened.

"I was bawling,” Perez said. “I felt like it had to happen that way, honestly. I felt like it was the first time someone could really see the things I've been trying to say."

Perez said five years ago, she dated the man Smith later married. Perez also got married to someone else.

But she said, Smith became jealous last July and has made life hell for Perez ever since.

"I kinda feel like I'm a prisoner in my own house,” Perez said. “Every time I leave, I check my surroundings. I have to walk around my car and check all four tires to see if they've been slashed again. I'm constantly looking in my rearview mirror to see if she's going to pop up on me or is today the day she's going to file another protective order… and I'm going to have to take off work."

Records show Smith did file for several protective orders against Perez, but they were all dismissed.

The judge, however, gave Perez a protective order against Smith. For the assault against Perez at the courthouse, Smith pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and got an 18-month deferred sentence.

5/4/2015 Related Story: Woman Arrested For Dissecting Corpse At Tulsa Funeral Home

Then, less than a month later, Smith was arrested for assaulting a woman's corpse at a funeral home.

"It could've been me, honestly, that could've been me,” Perez said.

The DA has now filed an application to accelerate the previous deferred sentence for her attack on Perez and now wants Smith to serve all that time behind bars, as well as answer to the new charges from disturbing a corpse last week.

Family members called police to the Moore Funeral Home last week, saying they saw Smith with her hands inside the casket.

Police found hair on the floor near the casket and smeared makeup on the face of the deceased. There was also "a large vertical cut starting from the hairline stretching to the tip of the nose," an arrest report says.

Police say they found a folding knife with hair that matched the hair on the floor on Smith's person during a pat down. They also found scissors, a box cutter knife and "various pieces of makeup" on Smith. A family member said Smith also had stolen the deceased woman's shoes.

That woman, according to her family, died of natural causes stemming from a long illness.

Smith's attorney admits the corpse case is unusual and they will be sensitive to the family and all involved as they move forward.

Court records show Smith also was charged with child neglect in February.