Dad Arrested For Murder; 5-Year-Old Son Found Dead After Standoff

Police say they found the boy dead inside an apartment after his father, Bryon Creech, 36, engaged police in a 17-hour standoff.

Friday, March 20th 2015, 6:59 am

By: News On 6

Dad Arrested For Murder; 5-Year-Old Son Found Dead After Standoff

Police say they found a 5-year-old boy dead inside an apartment after a man involved in a 17-hour standoff surrendered on Friday morning.

Officers said the standoff with the unidentified man began at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Riverchase Apartments in the 7900 block of South Riverside Drive.

Bryon Creech, 36, surrendered to police at about 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Police entered the apartment and found the boy's body inside. Police said the boy was his son.

Creech has been booked into the Tulsa County Jail for first-degree murder, shooting with intent to kill, kidnapping, second-degree burglary and violating a protective order.

3/19/2015 Related Story: Tulsa Police: Man Barricades Self, Child; Fires Shots From Wife's Apartment

Police said the man came to the apartment where his wife and child live, violating a protective order. They said the couple is going through a divorce but have joint custody of the child.

Late Friday afternoon, police said the woman left the apartment to go to work on Thursday, and some time after that, Creech came to her apartment and brought their son. He had court-allowed visitation with the boy, police said. Officers said Creech broke into the apartment and barricaded himself and the boy inside, but his wife was able to see him remotely through surveillance cameras she installed.

His wife called police to report Creech was inside her residence, and shortly after officers arrived, they said Creech fired at least 10 shots.

Police evacuated the complex and set up a secure area around the apartment where the man and the child were located. Officers said the department's special operations team talked with Creech by phone all night in an effort to get him to surrender.

Court documents show Creech's wife filed a petition for a protective order in July 2014 after Creech threatened her with a gun. The woman was afraid Creech would hurt her or her son, records say. She also cited his size – Creech is 6-foot-6 and weighs 330 pounds, according to her petition.

“He is a very large angry loud man. He blocked with his body in our bedroom and would not allow me to leave the bedroom. Recently his anger has been escalating. He constantly threatens and harasses me in a loud and frightening cruel way. My son is afraid of him and has told me so. The defendant has had anger management treatment before. This spring during an argument while I was trying to leave he placed a hand gun on the couch between us. I was frightened to leave because of his behavior and the gun. He has taken my cell phone away in the past to prevent me from calling 911. He has also taken my car keys in order to trap me at the house. I am very afraid of him and know that things will get really bad when I file for divorce. He threatened “to make my life a living hell” if I filed. I am afraid he will hurt me and my son. His behavior is getting worse and out of control. He has forced me to do things I did not want to do.”

Creech also filed a petition seeking a protective order against his wife. He wrote in the document that he found bruises on his son's thigh and back in January. He claimed the child said "mommy grabbed me and pushed me." Creech's request for a protective order against the woman was denied.

He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail on Friday afternoon.

In November 2014, Creech was charged with malicious injury to property, a misdemeanor. According to court documents, Creech vandalized his wife's vehicle during a meeting to exchange custody of the child. QuikTrip surveillance footage caught Creech scraping something down the side of her vehicle, an affidavit says. That case still is ongoing in Tulsa County District Court.

Tulsa Police Sergeant said the medical examiner has not released an official cause of death.