Sequoyah County Sheriff 'Relieved' About Murder Conviction Of Father’s Killer

A Cherokee County jury on Friday found a man guilty of murdering a sheriff’s father.

The murder happened almost a year and a half ago. Since then, Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane said he has been able to honor his dad in the way he has wanted to for years.

Sheriff Lane said his dad, Larry Lane Sr., was outgoing, well-liked, and generous to a fault.

The 67-year-old's life was cut short when Ricky Rainwater put Lane Sr. in a chokehold in his Cherokee County home.

Rainwater is now convicted of robbery and second-degree murder. 

"I was relieved. We're satisfied,” Sheriff Lane said.

Sheriff Lane said his dad isn't Rainwater's first victim. Court records show Rainwater served time in prison a few years ago after being convicted of aggravated assault in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Related Story - Jury Convicts Man For Murdering Sequoyah County Sheriff's Father 

"He wasn't out of prison just a couple of months when he killed my dad,” Sheriff Lane said.

Since that awful day in September 2018, Sheriff Lane said he found a way to honor his dad's love for hunting and begin to cope with his own loss.

"When we had funerals of our other family members, he told me several times he wanted to be cremated and he wanted his ashes spread in the deer woods,” Sheriff Lane said.

Sheriff Lane went to the same land where his dad took him to harvest his first deer, back when he was 14.

"We went there and spread his ashes and said a few words. It was pretty neat,” Sheriff Lane said.

Rainwater could get up to 38 years in prison for the murder and 20 years for robbery. Whether those sentences will run together or back-to-back will be determined at his next court date, in late February.