Social worker arrested, accused of violent assault

Social worker arrested, accused of violent assault
by Courtney Coble, Staff Writer
21 hrs ago
Matthew Carlile, a Social Service Specialist at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in Sallisaw was arrested Saturday after he allegedly beat, shot at, and held his former girlfriend captive for hours.

Authorities said that Carlile, 35, called his former girlfriend, Carmen Parra, 39, of Sallisaw and asked her to come to his house. When she knocked on the door, Carlile answered it with a shotgun in his hand.

According to the report, when Parra was lying on the bed, Carlile threatened to kill her and started shooting the shotgun into the mattress around her. She told authorities Carlile kept hitting her with the barrel of the gun. She said Carlile stuck the barrel of the shotgun in her mouth, pulled it out then struck her in the lip with it.

Parra told authorities that she was trying to avoid being hit in the face by the barrel so she covered her face with her arms. On Monday Parra was bruised from her face to her feet. Photos show multiple round barrel marks behind her ears, on her face, on her back, her buttocks, and her upper and lower legs, and on the bottoms of her feet. Parra’s right arm, from her hand to her shoulder, has dark purple bruises and her hand was swollen. Dark purple circles cover her legs in various spots, her back and behind her neck.

Eric Helms, Sequoyah County Sheriff’s investigator, said Parra had shoes on her feet at the time of the alleged attack. He said that she was hit with the barrel of the shotgun with such force on her shoes that the bottoms of her feet has round bruising on them.

Parra was able to run out of the house and get into her vehicle and leave. Sallisaw Police Officer Mark Rutherford and Sequoyah County Deputy Raymond Martin met with Parra at 1:45 a.m. Saturday shortly after Parra was allegedly assaulted.

Parra gave Rutherford the shotgun that was allegedly used during the alleged attack. Martin asked Parra how she ended up with the shotgun and she said, “He gave it to me and told me that I would have to shoot him or he would kill me.” She said when she took the shotgun she ran out of the house, to her vehicle and drove off.

Parra told authorities that Carlile kept threatening to kill her, then he would shoot the shotgun around her into the bed where she was lying. Martin reported during the initial report that Parra’s shirt was torn, she had bruises on her right forearm and blood on her right hand. He said she was heavily bleeding from the mouth. Parra was taken to Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw and treated and released.

Martin, along with other officers, drove to Carlile’s residence on Wild Horse Mountain Road just south of Sallisaw and knocked on the door. Martin reported no one answered. Deputies stayed near Carlile’s home while Helms drove to the sheriff’s department to type a search warrant in order to gain entry to the residence. While typing the search warrant, Sheriff Ron Lockhart called Helms to inform him that Carlile was in custody, and he gave the deputies verbal consent to search his home.

When deputies went inside the home they went to the room where Parra said the assault occurred.

“There was no bed in the bedroom. I did locate two spent shotgun shells lying in the floor and a pile of spewed dust, hair, small papers and small lead pellets,” Helms reported.

Deputies found blankets with bloodstains and holes consistent to what Parra had told them. Helms said while he was collecting the evidence he noticed a splattered stain on the wall.

“This blood stain was cut from the wall and secured as evidence because Martin said Parra was bleeding badly from her lip,” Helms said.

A bed was not found inside the home; however deputies drove into a pasture behind Carlile’s home and found a bloodstained mattress with several holes. They were also able to locate a box spring that had holes consistent to the mattress. Helms said Carlile was taken to Sequoyah County Jail and booked in on various assault charges.

On Monday Carlile stood before District Judge Jeff Payton, and Ryan Wyrick, assistant district attorney, who asked Payton to set no bond. Payton granted the state’s request and Carlile was taken back to jail. On Tuesday, Carlile retained Donn Baker, attorney from Tahlequah, and both Carlile and Baker went before Payton on Wednesday.

“Based on the seriousness of the offense and the need to protect the public I asked for $150,000 bond. Over the state’s objection, Payton lowered the bond amount requested,” Wyrick said.

“Payton set Carlile’s bond at $50,000 in order to get Carlile to the treatment facility,” John David Luton, first assistant district attorney said.

Payton said the purpose of setting the bond at a lower amount then what the state requested is to get Carlile into a rehabilitation program. Carlile will not be released to the public.

“Baker requested a lower bond be set on the condition Carlile goes to Hope Valley Rehabilitation, which is an alcohol, drug and related treatment program.

“As soon as he is out of the rehabilitation facility his bond will be revoked and he will be back in jail. This is an inpatient facility. We are going to verify that he is there and doing what he is suppose to be doing,” Luton said.

“We are not taking these allegations lightly. We take all domestic violence cases seriously. The situation is still being investigated and I’m expecting multiple charges,” Luton said.

Joy Walker, Sequoyah County DHS director, said an extensive background check is done on all new hires. Mary Leaver, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services said Carlile has been employed with the department since 2005.

“He is currently an active employee. The departments police however, is if any employee is convicted of a felony, it is an automatic discharge,” Leaver said.



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