OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma City man who defended himself in a first-degree murder trial was sentenced to death on Tuesday.
Derrick Laday received the death penalty, less than one week after a jury found him guilty of murdering Dennis Johnson Jr. in 2015.
Laday murdered Johnson and drove his body nearly 100 miles away. He then set the body on fire beneath an Ada bridge.
The defendant chose to represent himself in the trial, which was held throughout last week.
He called his brother Aaron Laday to the stand, who then confessed to the 2015 murder. But while Aaron Laday was allegedly present during the kidnapping and murder of Johnson, prosecutors insisted it was Derrick Laday who orchestrated the murder.
Derrick Laday told KFOR last week following the trial that he would appeal his conviction.
