Man Accused In Penn Square Mall Shooting Refuses Plea Deal; Trial Set For May

One year ago, Oklahoma City police and the U.S. Marshals apprehended Darrell Fletcher, 23, who was accused of firing a gun inside Penn Square Mall on Jan. 18, 2020.

Fletcher’s court case has been slow-moving, reportedly due to his behavior.

After recently declining the Oklahoma County prosecutor’s plea deal offer, Fletcher was scheduled to go to trial in May.

Court record notes showed the judge assigned to the case was tired of Fletcher's "game playing" and "misguided behavior," after he refused multiple COVID-19 tests in jail. Even his attorney filed a motion to withdraw as Fletcher’s attorney on record.

This explains the case against Fletcher.

In January 2020, law enforcement swarmed Penn Square Mall. Mall patrons ran for cover as after multiple shots were fired at another man. Those shots missed him.

Dozens of frightened people called 911.

Caller: “Shots at Penn Square Mall again, shots at Penn Square Mall.”

Dispatcher: “Inside, outside?”

Caller: “Inside the mall. Inside the mall by the court, by the food court.”

In the chaotic moments after the shooting, police said Fletcher and his three others slipped out of the mall. The four were identified through mall security footage and captured days later.

Caller: “There was like five or six of them, looked like they were friends or something but they were kind of going back and forth and I looked up and the one guy turned around and hit the other guy and the next thing I know they guy pulls out a gun and just shoots him.”

Fletcher's mother was also arrested and is accused of lying to police about her son's whereabouts after the shooting.

All five people were charged with felony crimes.

Fletcher is being held in the Oklahoma County Detention Center without bond on four counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Fletcher's mother and three accomplices appeared in court on Thursday. Their preliminary hearings were continued to March due to COVID-19 illnesses.