‘Fair fight’ spirals out of control and dad is shot dead in front of son, OK cops say
An Oklahoma father was gunned down in the street while trying to protect his son during a fight that spiraled out of control, authorities and witnesses said.
A 21-year-old man, Ramari Boone-Haye, is accused of shooting the father to death on July 14, in view of his family and other witnesses, according to court records filed July 23. Officers arrived to find William Birdtail dead “from multiple gunshots to his head, face and body.”
Witnesses told police it “started out as a fair fight” between two men — one of whom was Birdtail’s son — outside a home in Yukon, a suburb of Oklahoma City roughly 20 miles northwest from downtown.
But as the men went at each other, Birdtail’s son “gained the upper hand,” causing the friend of the man who was now losing to step in, investigators said. That friend was Boone-Haye.
Once Boone-Haye got involved, more people waded into the fray, and the street fight turned into a brawl between the two sides, police said.
Birdtail, a husband and father of two, came to his son’s defense, friends told KWTV.
In an interview with police, Boone-Haye said he told someone to bring him his gun. Now armed, he turned his sights on Birdtail.
“Birdtail grabbed the barrel of the gun and told (Boone-Haye) he was not going to shoot him,” witnesses told police.
“(Boone-Haye) lowered the rifle, chambered a round and shot (Birdtail) in the face, before shooting him multiple times while he was on the ground,” the probable cause affidavit said.
He then hit Birdtail in the face with the barrel of the gun, according to investigators.
After shooting Birdtail, another witness said Boone-Haye approached her and Birdtail’s son and asked “if they wanted to be next.”
A neighbor told KWTV they heard Birdtail’s wife calling out his name when shots rang out and saw her holding him after he fell.
Boone-Haye told police he shot Birdtail because he tried to grab him, according to documents. However, Boone-Haye said he “did not feel his life was in danger.”
He is charged with murder and two counts of pointing a firearm.
This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 2:22 PM with the headline "‘Fair fight’ spirals out of control and dad is shot dead in front of son, OK cops say."