TULSA -- A Tulsa murder suspect captured after nearly two years on the run.
Police say Charletta Thomas was gunned down by her then boyfriend Alonzo Kelly.
The tragedy happened in a home on West 57th Street on March 19, 2016.
Thomas’s family never lost hope for justice.
Nearly two years later, they got the call they’ve been waiting for.
“Kind of sent a chill through my body because he never called me this early in the morning,” said Richard Deberry, Thomas’s brother.
Tulsa County Sheriff’s deputies delivered the bittersweet news to the Thomas family Friday, the arrest of Alonzo Kelly, the man who they say shot and killed 45-year-old Charletta Thomas.
“I just couldn't stop the tears from coming,” said Deberry.
Kelly was arrested in Portland, Oregon Thursday night during a prostitution sting.
He tried to lie to police about his identity.
The Portland bureau conducted a thorough investigation and were able to determine his true identity and the fact that he was wanted for murder here in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” said Sheriff Vic Regalado with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Family tell us Thomas was in an abusive relationship with Kelly for over three years.
“I just hate that it took this for me to find out that he was actually putting his hands on my sister,” said Deberry.
While they lost her through tragedy, they want people to remember her for the outgoing person she was.
“A real good sister, she was a good friend, and a lovely mother,” said Deberry.
The family may have to go through a long legal process with Kelly’s first degree murder charge.
They say they are leaning on their strength to get through it.
“It’s going to be hard on my family once again but it’s just something we got to deal with, we’ll get through it like we always do,” said Deberry.
Kelly is awaiting extradition in Oregon.
He has the ability to waive that, if not there will be a hearing where they will determine when he’ll be brought back to Tulsa.
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