Suspect in Cape slayings to go with public defender instead of private lawyer

A suspect in the Oct. 27 killings on North Missouri Avenue in Cape Girardeau will hear some of the evidence against him Dec. 22, Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp ruled Monday.

In a brief hearing, Samuel R. "Ray Ray" Hughes, 25, 326 S. Lorimier St., accepted the services of the public defender's office. Hughes had told Kamp on Nov. 2 that he intended to hire a private lawyer. Monday's hearing was to determine if he had done so, but Hughes applied for representation by the public defender.

Hughes will be in court at 9 a.m. Dec. 22 for a preliminary hearing on three counts of second-degree murder, one count of burglary and one count of attempted arson. If convicted, Hughes faces life in prison.

Hughes is accused of joining Ryan T. Patterson, 28, in an attack on Jamie Lynn Orman, 30, and her son, Derrick J. Orman, 15, in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 27 at the 1224 N. Missouri Ave. home of Orman's fiance, John Lawrence. Orman was seven months pregnant at the time.

Patterson is accused of being the shooter and faces a possible death sentence with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, a count of burglary and a count of attempted arson. Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle has not announced whether he intends to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole for Patterson.

John Lawrence's estranged wife, Michelle Lawrence, is accused of a single count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder because investigators believe she urged Patterson, her boyfriend, to kill John Lawrence and purchased the ammunition used in the attack.

A preliminary hearing on the evidence against Patterson and Michelle Lawrence will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday in Jackson.

Investigators believe Patterson asked Hughes to accompany him, promising a fruitful night of stealing computers, televisions and cash from John Lawrence's home. According to sworn statements, Hughes entered the garage with Patterson, but when they could not gain entry to the home he returned to the car they were using and acted as a lookout.

According to a sworn statement included in the charges against Paterson, he used a potato as a silencer and shot both Ormans as in the basement of the home. The sworn statement alleges he was promised half of approximately $350,000 in life insurance and homeowner's insurance payments that would be made after John Lawrence was dead and his home burned.

John Lawrence and Michelle Lawrence have been embroiled in a bitter divorce case since June 2008. A hearing to set a trial date for the divorce was scheduled the morning that the Ormans were killed.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, MO

1224 N. Missouri Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO