June 9, 2020
By News Director Jared Atha
An Oklahoma City man recently released from prison after fulfilling a 17-year manslaughter sentence has been charged with first degree murder in Custer County District Court after allegedly killing his mother early Saturday morning in a camper near Clinton.
According to a probable cause affidavit, 37-year-old Dennis Ray Rigsby Jr. was charged with the crime after Clinton police arrested him Saturday night at a convenience store east of the city off of Interstate 40.
According to the document, Clinton police were dispatched to the store after an employee called the police, asking for medical assistance for Rigsby who appeared to be in distress inside the store.
Officials say when police arrived, along with EMS personal, they advised Rigsby that they were trying to help him. That’s when he allegedly said that someone in a van needs help. Officers would eventually discover the body of 66-year-old Judy Mullin inside a camper that her and Rigsby, her son, had been traveling in. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was requested by Clinton police to take over the case.
During an interview with the suspect, OSBI stated in the document that Rigsby said that he thought someone was trying to kill him. He allegedly told OSBI officials that when his mother would not give him her phone, he became upset and punched her in the face. Rigsby also allegedly admitted to choking the woman with some clothes and also hitting her with an object.
Mullin had come to Oklahoma from her home in California for the man’s release from prison.
An attorney date for Rigsby is scheduled for June 29. A preliminary hearing conference will take place on July 24.
