OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna is seeking the death penalty in a late-2025 homicide, her second push for the penalty in just six months.
Behenna’s office announced in late-June that she’d seek death for defendant Cordell Wilson in the murder of 85-year-old Ina Balch, who was found dead in her northwest OKC home in December of last year.
This follows Behenna’s first push for the death penalty just months ago for Anthony Gonzalez, who is on trial for the April 2025 stabbing murder of 18-year-old gas station attendant Jaedynn Anthony.
In separate press releases, the DA called both these crimes “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel,” emphasizing the “existence of a probability that the defendant[s] would commit criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing threat to society.”
The comparatively quick succession of these two decisions seems to mark a significant shift for Behenna, who had avoided and even denied calls to seek the death penalty in cases for three years since taking office in January of 2023.
“The death penalty should be used in the most egregious of cases,” Behenna wrote in a letter to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board before a clemency hearing for death row inmate Richard Glossip in 2023. “Cases that involve mass casualties, or cases where the defendant has had a significant history of violence such that the defendant poses a threat to people and society, even while incarcerated.”
Repeated attempts were made by Free Press to reach Behenna or her office to further discuss her reasons for seeking the death penalty in these cases, but no response was given.
Cordell Wilson
At around 6:00 pm on December 9th 2025, officers responded to a “deceased person call” in the 1800 block of NW 9th street. The deceased was 85-year-old Ina Balch, who was “found by a family member bound and sitting up in her bed,” according to a statement from the DA’s Office.
In court documents, OKCPD homicide investigator Detective John Revel called Balch’s death “extremely suspicious.”
As reported by Free Press in April, OKCPD detectives looked at “bruising, internal bleeding, and DNA found at the scene” which ultimately led them to a homicide declaration and a suspect, 33-year-old Cordell Wilson, who was discovered to be already in jail on unrelated charges.
Court records viewed by Free Press indicate that Wilson was arrested on December 12th of 2025 for burglary and assault and battery after breaking into a house through a bedroom window just three city blocks away from the scene of the murder of Ina Balch.
At this time, Wilson’s charges include “counts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, two counts of rape by instrumentation, and sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult, all in connection with Balch’s death.”
Anthony Gonzalez
Behenna’s first time publicly calling for the death penalty came earlier this year, three years into her tenure as Oklahoma County District Attorney.
In January, Behenna’s office announced that she would be seeking a death sentence for 24-year-old Anthony Gonzalez for the murder of 18-year-old Jaedynn Anthony.
A statement from Behenna’s Office recounts in brief the events of the crime, stating that Jaedynn Anthony “was working at a 7-11 located at Wilshire and Council on October 18, 2024. At 2:01 a.m., [when] Gonzalez walked into the store and appeared to be making a purchase.” After a brief interaction, “Gonzalez stabbed Jaedynn one time and left the store… with less than $40.”
Jaedynn Anthony was found dead by police when they arrived at the store around 2:45am.
A statement from the DA’s Office reads, “It is not a decision that is made lightly, hastily, or without careful consideration. After a thorough review of the facts, the law, and the aggravating circumstances alleged in this case, our office has determined that seeking the death penalty is appropriate,” and, “we have an obligation to pursue justice in a manner that reflects the seriousness of the crime alleged and is consistent with Oklahoma law.”
The death penalty in Oklahoma
The death penalty has become a lightning rod of political tension and controversy in Oklahoma, with several high-profile cases in the state seeing nationwide calls for clemency and political candidates often at odds over the penalty’s high public costs and likelihood for protracted, multi-decade court battles.
The Death Penalty Information Center, “a national non-profit organization providing the media, policymakers, and the general public with data and analysis on issues concerning capital punishment and the people it affects,” reports that “the death penalty costs taxpayers 2.5 to 5 times more than life imprisonment.”
One reason for this is listed as “more complex pretrial procedures, trials, appeals and retrials.”
The Oklahoma Policy Institute (OPI) reports that “Oklahoma has executed more than 125 people since the modern era of capital punishment began in 1976, which is by far the nation’s highest per capita rate for executions,” which along with the high costs and lengthy average litigation process of such cases has led to widespread debate over the efficacy and feasibility of the death penalty in Oklahoma.
According to OPI, there are currently 11 active death penalty cases in Oklahoma County, and nine executions have taken place since 2021.
Tyler Smothers is a local, an Okie, and a poet living in Oklahoma City with his wife, Sadye, and their animals, Toby and Oscar.
He teaches medieval history and literature to 7th graders and loves everything from "Canterbury Tales" to "Mrs. Dalloway."
