By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A truck driver has admitted leaving the scene of a collision with a pedestrian at the intersection of Monroe Street and Cantwell Avenue on the Oklahoma State University campus that killed an OSU student on her 19th birthday.
Tyler Ron Peters of Okarche, who was a 21-year-old OSU student at the time of the 9:48 am Feb. 22, 2024, accident, was apprehended about two hours later at 320 E. McElroy Street in Stillwater, a police affidavit said. Peters, now 22, entered a guilty plea on March 14 under the Delayed Sentencing Program for young adults, court records show.
Peters remains free on $10,000 cash bond pending his Dec. 12 sentencing by District Judge Jason Reese, who ordered the state Department of Corrections to prepare a Youthful Offender Accountability Plan, court records show. Leaving the scene of a fatal collision carries a maximum penalty of a 10-year prison term.
The victim, Gabrielle “Gabi” Claudia Ann Long, a 2023 graduate of Stillwater High School, was a good student taking honors classes at OSU to pursue a graphic arts degree, her obituary said. She appeared unconscious and was transported by LifeNet ambulance to the Stillwater Medical Center with the intent of flying her to OU Medical Center but was not stable enough to make the flight and soon pronounced deceased at the hospital, a police affidavit said.
When OSU Police Officer Enrico D. Alvarado arrived at the collision scene at 1023 W. Cantwell Avenue, “I saw two men over the female victim, attempting to render aid. I went to the back of my patrol unit to grab my medical bag and when I went to the victim, several Stillwater fire personnel were already at the victim rendering aid.
“Not wanting to get in the way of medical rescue, I assumed a command-and-control/security role,” and contacted supervisor Officer Jim Davis and Captain Colt Chandler to advise them of what had happened, Officer Alvarado wrote in his affidavit.
“Captain Chandler responded with Chief Leon Jones and Captains Michael Galbraith and Daniel Ray,” the latter two of whom worked with securing surveillance footage from the Northern Oklahoma College building just southeast of the collision. Sergeants Blake O’Dell and Adam Queen arrived to assist Officer Davis with working the collision.
“They worked with Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation, a representative with OSU Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at the Excelsior Building, and (Assistant District Attorney) Jose Villarreal.
“An immediate BOLO (be on the lookout) broadcast was issued through Stillwater Police Department and Payne County Sheriff’s Office for a white pickup truck with possible front-end damage, last seen leaving the scene eastbound on Cantwell Avenue, possibly turning north onto Washington Street,” the affidavit said.
“I overheard my Stillwater police radio talking about a white Chevrolet pickup,” which Stillwater Police Officer James Droescher had at 320 E. McElroy Road where he initiated a traffic stop,” on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, the OSU officer alleged in his affidavit.
Officer Alvarado wrote in his affidavit, “I told Captain Chandler and he, Chief Jones, Sgt. O’Dell, and Investigator Jacob Abad responded to 320 E. McElroy Road. Hair and blood were found under the truck, and the driver identified as Tyler Ron Peters, 21, was detained and later arrested.
“Lt. Burns then left the collision scene to transport Peters to the Payne County Jail and then to the Stillwater Medical Center for a blood draw,” for analysis, the affidavit said.
