Police: Tulsa Man Murders Mother Of Three, Tries To Kill Himself

A 12-year-old boy called Tulsa Police late Saturday night to tell them his father had shot his mother.

Sunday, October 26th 2014, 9:16 am

By: Dee Duren

Police: Tulsa Man Murders Mother Of Three, Tries To Kill Himself

A 12-year-old boy called Tulsa emergency services late Saturday night to tell his mother had been shot. Police found the body of Beverly Stratton at a home in the 600 block of East 45th Place North shortly after 11:30 p.m.

"When the first officers arrived, they made contact with three children that were at the residence. They were all outside the residence; they were safe and unharmed," said Captain Laurel Ledbetter.

Stratton, 32, was murdered by her live-in boyfriend, Robert Tillotson, according to Homicide Detective Dave Walker. Tillotson then shot himself in the head in a suicide attempt, but he is expected to survive his wound, Walker said.

The three children that were home when the murder took place were Stratton's 12- and 11-year-old children and a 9-year-old child the couple had together. Police say the 12-year-old boy who called 911 reported that his father had shot his mother.

The couple had a history of domestic violence, police say. Stratton reportedly told Tillotson their relationship was over but let him stay in the house temporarily.

Court records show Tillotson, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery in the presence of a minor child, one count of malicious injury to property and one count of interfering with an emergency telephone call on September 25, 2014.

He was sentenced to a year in the Tulsa County Jail with the first 20 days to be spent in custody with credit for time served, and the last 345 days suspended. The sentences were to be served concurrently.

He will be arrested for murder when he is released from the hospital, Walker said.

Police said the children are in the care of their maternal grandmother.

"They're small children who aren't equipped to deal with this kind of trauma," Ledbetter said at the scene. "They were distraught. Officers quickly took them, set them down in their cars.

"They've been very compassionate with them. The kids at this point are calm; they are with relatives. I'm sure they're just going to work through this - it's going to be a process for them."

It's the fifth woman murdered in domestic violence situations in Tulsa in the last month and the city's 47th homicide in 2014.

News On 6 Anchor and Crime Reporter Lori Fullbright did a story October 14, 2014, about the women who have been killed by a family member, boyfriend or would-be boyfriend over the last few weeks.