Life Sentences for Driver in Crash with Tulsa, OK, Fire Pumper that Killed Five

A woman who pleaded guilty to five counts of manslaughter in connection with a traffic accident involving a Tulsa fire truck was ordered Friday to serve five life prison sentences.

Tulsa County District Court Judge David Guten sentenced Keiosha Lyric Rucker, 40, to serve four of the five life terms concurrently, or at the same time, followed by a fifth life sentence.

Rucker, who is suing the city over the deadly crash, pleaded no contest on Oct. 20 to five counts of first-degree manslaughter while committing a misdemeanor.

Prosecutors, who initially offered Rucker a 50-year prison sentence in a plea deal, asked Guten to sentence Rucker to five life terms following a 3½-hour hearing Friday, in part due to what they said was her lack of accountability.

Rucker was driving a 2019 Hyundai Accent on Feb. 26, 2024, on 41st Street near New Haven Avenue when her vehicle collided with a Tulsa fire truck that was traveling with its lights and sirens running.

Tamia Ray, 23, and Keylani Jones, 5, died at a hospital following the crash.

The next week, police said Mikiya Chatmon, 4, and Aizah Jones, 1, also died. A 26-year-old passenger also miscarried, according to police.

No firefighters were injured in the crash.

A search warrant was obtained for a sample of Rucker’s blood after a plastic bag with white powder was found in the car. Her toxicology report showed both cocaine and marijuana in her blood at the time of the crash.

Rucker, who appeared in court using a motorized wheelchair, did not make a statement.

However, her attorney, Nathan Milner, argued that Rucker accepted responsibility through her pleading guilty.

“My client is not here to escape liability,” Milner said in requesting that Guten sentence her to a 20-year prison term with an opportunity to review her sentence later.

During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors played recordings of telephone calls Rucker made while in jail.

During one call, she related that she answered a pre-sentencing investigation question regarding marijuana use by stating that she planned to smoke a “blunt” as soon as she is released from prison.

One Tulsa Police officer who responded to the crash scene testified that he smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from Rucker’s car for up to an hour after the crash.

In sentencing Rucker to the five life terms, Guten called the ordeal a “horrific, horrific accident” that had impacted both Rucker’s family and members of the fire department, who were involved in the crash and rendered aid to the victims.

“I can’t imagine moving on after the loss of one of my children,” Guten said. “That is a pain you are going to have to live with.”

But the judge said he also had “anger” at some of the facts in the case, specifically mentioning Rucker’s desire to use marijuana as soon as she was released.

“If that’s not enough to change the behavior, then it will never change,” Guten said, referring to the fatal accident.

In November, Rucker filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the city of Tulsa and its fire department, seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages regarding the deaths of her children, Aziah Jones and Keylani Jones.

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