Prosecutor: Teen-age girl to face first-degree murder charges for Muskogee death

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) -- A 17-year-old Muskogee girl will be charged with first-degree murder for allegedly beating her 84-year-old neighbor to death with a baseball bat, a prosecutor said Monday.

Amanda Lane was arrested Friday after Bertha Pippen was found dead with severe head injuries in her Muskogee home, police said.

Assistant District Attorney David Pierce said Lane will be charged Tuesday with murder, robbery by force and fear and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Pierce said Lane became the focus of an investigation after apparently talking about robbing a neighbor.

"I think she at least talked to other people about it," Pierce said. "It's still under investigation whether anyone else was involved in the death. She was with some other people and was seen with a bat."

Pippen's death marked Muskogee County's 12th murder of the year and the fifth in the past month. The county experienced six homicides in 1999.

Pippen's neighbor, Debra Landry, said she hardly recognizes her once quiet neighborhood.

"It seems like everybody has gone crazy," Landry said. "It seems like every week there's police over here for drugs or domestics."

Lane remained in custody without bond in the Muskogee County/City Detention Facility.