OKC's First Murder Of 2013 Turns Out to Be Domestic

Oklahoma City Police investigate their first homicide of 2013, and the first murder, is a gruesome one.

Police say the woman was stabbed to death in her front yard in the 2800 block of Southwest 63^rd St.

Police arrested the suspect hours later at a 7-11 store in Del City. Police say 40-year-old, David Dean Nichols had cuts on his hands as a result of stabbing the woman, who neighbors say he was married to at one point.

"It's just her and her three kids, is all I seen," said neighbor, Tracy Brown.  

Neighbors understandably were shocked to hear that a mother of three was killed right in front of her home. She was found stabbed to death steps from the front door.

"That's sad when it happens in your own neighborhood, especially so close," said Brown.

"She was a good mother, took good care of those kids, always seemed so happy," said a neighbor across the street. "It's a shock."

1/5/13 Related Story: Police Arrest Suspect In OKC's First Homicide Of 2013

Police arrived at the victims home around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, and found the woman dead in the front yard. The suspect, David Dean Nichols, was arrested a few miles away at a Del City 7-11 store, where News 9 is told, he walked inside with bloody hands and asked a store clerk to call 911.

Police say he was sent to an area hospital, treated for his injuries, then booked into the Oklahoma County Jail.

Neighbors say they suspected domestic abuse at the home.

"There's always that at the back of your mind, especially the one person that you kind of wondered, but we didn't have anything confirmed," said a neighbor.

Nichols has a lengthy arrest record which include assault and battery, and assault with a deadly weapon. His rap sheet shows he's been booked into the Oklahoma County jail 13 times since 1996. Three of those arrests alone, were domestic.

"That's sad," said Brown. "Three little kids, without their momma."

Nichols was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail just before 9:00 a.m. He's charged with first-degree murder.