Oklahoma representative refiles "Lauria and Ashley" legislation

OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma legislator is making good on a promise to the family of kidnapped teenager Lauria Bible.

Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami, has refiled the "Lauria and Ashley" bill. The bill was filed on the first day new House measures were eligible to be pre-filed for the 2025 legislative session, which convenes Feb. 3.

House Bill 1001 is named after 16-year-old best friends Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, who were last seen on Dec. 29, 1999, and are presumed to be dead. A similar bill passed the House last year with an overwhelming majority, but the bill died in the Senate.

Bashore serves District 7, which includes Ottawa County and parts of Craig and Delaware counties. The girls attended Welch and Bluejacket schools.

Authorities believe the teens were kidnapped in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 1999, and for around two weeks they were tortured, drugged, raped, beaten, and ultimately killed in a Picher mobile home belonging to Phil Welch, Jr.

Welch, Jr., David Pennington, and Ronnie Busick, three known drug dealers, drove to the Freeman's rural Welch homestead with plans to settle a lousy drug debt. In an earlier interview Busick, the only surviving suspect and the only person charged with the crime, said the drug debt was over “one or two ounces of meth.”

Welch died in 2007 from “ALS.” Shortly after his death, lightning struck his house, and it burned to the ground. Pennington died in 2015 in a drug-related killing. 

The girls' remains have never been recovered.

"We are no closer to having closure than the night the girls disappeared," said Lisa Brodrick, Lauria Bible's cousin.

In 2020, Busick received a 10-year prison sentence, with five years of probation and only one year of supervision. Because of good behavior and time credited while in the Craig County jail, Busick was released after just three years in prison.

For two years, Bashore and other legislatures have led the charge in passing a bill that adds accessory to murder in the first or second degree to the list of crimes that would require an offender to serve 85% of their prison sentence before being eligible for parole consideration. Those convicted would also be ineligible to earn credits that would reduce their sentence below 85% of what the court imposed.

The bill is in response to Busick's early release in May 2023 from prison, after pleading guilty in 2020 to a reduced charge of accessory to felony murder.

Rep. Bashore has walked with the Bible family during the journey seeking justice for the teens.

Lorene Bible, Lauria's mother, learned of Busick's release through the media. During those weeks of trying to keep the convicted felon behind bars, Lorene Bible said publically the family was never told that accessory to felony murder was not an 85% crime. They would never have agreed to Busick's sentence if they knew that would mean an early release.

The Bible family wants criminals who go along with these crimes to do as much time as the person who commits them.

"We appreciate Rep. Bashore's work in passing the law," Brodrick said.

Watching the process up close last year prompted Brodrick to spend more time at the Capitol to push through the bill.

"We learned so much the last time," Brodrick said.

"I made a promise to the Bible family that I would continue to fight for justice for victims like Lauria and Ashley. For almost 25 years, these families have lived with the unimaginable pain of not knowing the full details of this crime or where their loved ones' bodies are located. They've endured the long, arduous process of court cases and agonizing searches for the bodies of the missing girls. While this legislation can't lessen their pain, they deserve to know that justice will be fully served in similar cases moving forward."

Rep. Steve Bashore

"This legislation will ensure going forward that anyone connected with a felony murder such as this, will not be released prematurely from prison and will not receive any type of credit for time served," Bashore said.

A memorial service is planned for this December to remember the girl's disappearance.