Family Relieved After OKC Police Arrest Murder Suspect

A suspect is in custody for the murder of a beloved bookstore owner in Northwest Oklahoma City.

Authorities said 42-year-old Kenton Eugene Busby went to Oklahoma City Police headquarters Tuesday morning to talk with detectives. That’s when he was arrested.

10/10/2017 Related Story: Arrest Made In Murder, Arson At OKC Book Store 

Busby’s criminal record is extensive. Court records show convictions for rape, kidnapping and assault, among other charges. Now, he is behind bars for another violent crime.

Investigators arrested him in connection with the death of 66-year-old Kelly Hays. Hays was the owner of 30 Penn Books in Northwest OKC and brother to Dan Hays.

09/26/2017 Related Story: Family Of Murdered OKC Bookstore Owner Seeks Answers

“He was a very kind person, a very educated person, a person who constantly sought to better himself in everything he did,” he explained.

“He was an inspiration to his customers and his family,” he added. The arrest came a few weeks after police said Hays was stabbed and found dead in his burning business.

And it came one day after investigators released surveillance video hoping to identify the man with the backpack, walking briskly by a bus stop a few blocks from the bookstore the afternoon of September 14.

Police said it was Busby in the video.

“At this point I don’t have information on what his connection to that store or to the victim was, but fortunately we were able to get him off the streets,” said Officer Megan Morgan, OCPD.

The victim’s brother said he was relieved to hear an arrest had been made.

“Every day since he was murdered when any of us in the family wake up, that’s the first thing on our minds…how unjust it was, how tragic and how inexplicable. And we all wanted someone to be brought to justice for it,” he said.

The victim’s brother said the whole family will gather at the bookstore to sift through everything and find out what's salvageable.

And then they'll try to make a determination on what's next.