Young man arrested in death of popular butcher

KONAWA, Okla. (AP) _ A 19-year-old Konawa resident who was arrested in the death of a popular local butcher is the stepson of a man the victim helped raise. <br/><br/>Law enforcement officers arrested

Sunday, August 22nd 2004, 10:17 am

By: News On 6

KONAWA, Okla. (AP) _ A 19-year-old Konawa resident who was arrested in the death of a popular local butcher is the stepson of a man the victim helped raise.

Law enforcement officers arrested Sonny Collinsworth after police dogs flushed him out of a wooded area near Sasakwa, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jessica Brown said Saturday.

Authorities were searching for Collinsworth on a felony warrant for knowingly concealing stolen property, but he also was booked into the Seminole County jail on a murder complaint in the death of Silas Price Jr., Brown said.

Price, who had worked at the Streetman Supermarket since the early 1960s, was found dead Thursday inside his locked house. He had gone home to take a nap on his lunch break and was wearing his butcher's apron when he was discovered.

Brown said Price, 60, was shot in the head.

Barry Streetman, who owned the supermarket, said Price knew Collinsworth and had helped him financially.

Price and his late wife, Mildred, raised Collinsworth's stepfather as a foster child, Streetman said.

``That's something we've all been asking today: 'Why?''' Streetman said. ``Why did this happen?''

Price's killing was second one this year in the town of 1,479.

Price's funeral will be held at the Konawa High School Performing Arts Center at 3 p.m. Tuesday.