Charges Yet To Be Filed In Shooting 1 Year Later

One year later, charges have yet to be filed on the man who allegedly killed his step-father, shot his mother and shot himself in the head.

It was Dec. 30, 2009 when James Ray Clayton, now 25, allegedly shot and killed his step-father, William Burl "Clay" Clayton, grazed his mother, Deidra Clayton with a bullet and then turned the gun on himself. Deidra Clayton was taken to Guymon’s hospital and later released.

Clayton had just been released from protective custody at the behavioral center in Fort Supply, Okla. The family reportedly had many problems in the past and Clayton has one Domestic Abuse — Assault and Battery charge stemming from an incident that happened in May 2009.

After the Dec. 30 accident, Clayton was reportedly "touch and go" at an Amarillo hospital but officials confirmed he is alive and doing better. As for the reason he has not been charged, OSBI (Okla. State Bureau of Investigation) explained that the investigation is complete and it is up to the District Attorney as to when the charges will be filed.

"It’s really up to the DA as to when he wants to file charges," said Jessica Brown, OSBI Spokesperson.

"The District Attorney has the information and will be filing charges once the suspect gets to a medical condition in which it would be appropriate to file charges," she added.

The Daily Herald attempted to contact District Attorney Mike Boring but he was unavailable for comment. His office would not comment on the matter but explained that the case was still under investigation.

Much criticism arose after this incident since Clayton had just been released from a behavioral center. In a Jan. 7, 2009 interview with The Guymon Daily Herald, Hardesty Police Chief Don Brock said Clayton was a mental patient who was released when "he shouldn’t have been."

According to Brock, he personally transported Clayton to Fort Supply on Dec. 28, just two days before he opened fire on his own family and then himself. Clayton was admitted to the facility for "mental instability."

Several sources close to the situation said that Clayton may have even been schizophrenic.

Clayton was released the day of the shootings, Wed. Dec. 30, 2009.