12 Jun Mother Follows Sons to Prison for Trying to Cover Up Their Crimes
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Dorothea Annette Butanda
Dorothea Annette Butanda (02/04/1976) is ordered to serve nine years in prison for her part in trying to cover up the fatal hit-and-run of Noelle New. Maranda Talley sustained near fatal injuries during the same wreck. The two best friends were taking a walk along a road near their homes in Verdigris when Gage Shriver, with his brother Dakota Shriver in the passenger seat, veered off the road and hit the girls.
The brothers had been drinking and a fight broke out in the truck and then Gage veered when Dakota hit Gage. In September of 2017 a jury found the two guilty and sentenced them both to 25 years in prison.
During their trial evidence showed their mother, Butanda, lied multiple times to members of law enforcement, directed Gage to hide in her car and lie to a 911 operator while sending Dakota out into the field to collect evidence and put it in her truck all while Maranda and Noelle were still lying in the field.
Noelle’s mother Brandy told Butanda in court “I love my daughter as much as you proclaim to love your sons. What we don’t have in common is I love my children so much that I would never lie for them. I love them enough not to enable them. I love them enough to make them accountable when they are wrong. You have failed in your duties as a mother.”
Following Gage and Dakota’s trial Butanda waived her right to a jury trial and entered a guilty plea on all charges. She later asked to withdraw her plea when it became clear she was facing prison time. The Judge denied the motion and set her sentencing date.
In her victim impact statement the surviving victim, Maranda Talley, told Butanda “For the past three years I’ve seen you in court giving me God awful looks, when I’ve done nothing to deserve any of it. I’ve done nothing to your family for them to treat me the way they do. Now remember, your boys RAN US OVER!!!” She also told her “How dare you think you are the victims of this case! If it were up to me, you would receive the same punishment as the brothers, if not even more time.”
Victim impact statements were also given by Noelle’s father, step-mother and Maranda’s mother.
Following the victim impact statements (click here to read the full statements) Judge Dwayne Steidley recapped all of the lies told by Butanda from the time she learned of her boys’ crimes and he told her “What you did was not love… the truth was the third victim at that scene.”
He also told Butanda he believes her sons were punished more harshly because of what she, their mother, did following the crash.
For her three felony crimes and one misdemeanor the Judge sentenced her as follows:
Count 1: ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT –
Nine years in prison
Count 2: ACCESSORY TO LEAVING THE SCENE OF FATALITY ACCIDENT –
Five years in prison
Count 3: ACCESSORY TO LEAVING THE SCENE OF INJURY ACCIDENT –
One year in prison
Count 4: OBSTRUCTING OFFICER –
One year in jail
Because the Judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently (at the same time as each other) the sum total is a 9 year prison sentence.
Rogers County Chief Prosecutor Tony Evans had requested Butanda receive a sentence closer to the 25 years both of her sons received. Evans noted “Her sons were both committing crimes at the time of the crash but from what we can tell they did not intentionally hit the girls. However what Butanda did to try and cover it up from the time she learned about the crash was intentional and premeditated.”
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