DEWEY colt shot, authorities looking for suspect

A KOTV viewer is hoping to ease the loss of Jared Hewitt, a little boy whose colt was shot to death. Within minutes of seeing the story on KOTV, a viewer responded with a kind offer. <br><br>Once viewers

Wednesday, July 18th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A KOTV viewer is hoping to ease the loss of Jared Hewitt, a little boy whose colt was shot to death. Within minutes of seeing the story on KOTV, a viewer responded with a kind offer.

Once viewers heard about Scamper being shot and killed, several of you called KOTV, offering to give Jared a new horse. KOTV passed the calls along to the Hewitt family.

Jared wants your help in finding his best friend's killer. Investigators believe this is the kind of crime suspects will talk about.

KOTV's Tami Marler went to Dewey to find out more. "He was like a part of our family." 11-year-old Jared Hewitt couldn't believe when he got his new colt, 'Scamper', from a friend at church - who offered an unbelievable swap. "I traded him a pocket knife for a horse and I was really surprised about that. I was in shock." Jared went to work right away, getting 'Scamper' ready for a trip to the Tulsa State Fair. "First I would go out early in the mornings and I would feed him, and I would lead him around the corral some and I would work with him."

'Scamper' was Jared's first horse, and he had big plans for the future. Until late one night, when someone brought Jared's dreams to a horrible end. Dewey pastor and father of Jared, Gene Hewitt, "We thought he'd hit his head or maybe had got choked on something. And then, when I raised his head, we saw the exit wound. And that's when we realized he'd been shot."

Gene and Jan Hewitt were coming home from church Saturday night, when they found 'Scamper' shot to death in the corral. All they could think about was Jared. "He had almost come home with us from church. And I was just thankful that he didn't. Then the next thing was, just immediately whoever robbed us - broke into our house a few weeks ago - probably did it." "I can replace money, I can replace stolen items. An eleven year old's first colt - you can't replace." And you can't replace the feeling of security Jared has lost. "At nights, it really worries me, because I'm thinking about the other two and what's going to come next." Gene Hewitt, "We've tried to get Jared to understand that we need to pray for this person, because they've definitely got something wrong that they could do something like this." Jared, "I would want them to know that they probably did a very very bad thing; and they should regret what they have done."

The Washington County Sheriff's office is investigating the shooting. Jared's neighbors and friends are offering a $2,000 reward for any tips that lead to an arrest. If you have any information you can call 918-337-2800.