Kristie Evans

A man of faith is murdered in his bed in the middle of the night. I just heard this pop, this loud pop sound. The way he was positioned, the blood had dripped down his neck and down the side of the bed to the floor. But is it a random act of violence or a targeted attack? We were just confused and scared and didn't know what happened. It was his first time being passed or dealt with some opposition. You know, when you come in and change things, people don't like change. The investigation takes detectives in an unexpected direction. There's this mysterious white Mustang parked out in front of their house, and they see that he had already been to prison. Until a host of shocking family secrets are dredged up. If you want to combat sexual sin in the world, purify your own life and stay committed and pure in your own marriage. The community was shocked that they found out about the whole lifestyle that my parents had. They just kept after her. If you love me, you'll do this. I think his view of love and what that was, was warped. And an unexpected culprit is brought to justice. She pulls him up on his feet and says, go do it now. Go do it now. She screwed him stupid. She played him like a fiddle. One thing we all agreed on is that never in a million years we've committed this crime but for her. March 22nd, 2021. It's a little after 1 a.m. when police in Ada, Oklahoma, receive a frantic call from 47-year-old Christy Evans. She was crying, saying that something had happened to her husband. believed to have been an intruder in the home. Officers quickly respond to the address and find Christy waiting for them. I think so. Are you the only one here? I think so. In the bedroom, they find her husband, 50-year-old David Evans, lying dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Mr. Evans was in bed with covers on, with his head turned slightly to the side. The blood had came through his mouth and nose, dripped down the side of the bed to the floor. It was pretty obvious this individual was deceased. Homicides are a shocking occurrence in a small town like Ada. But this one is even more alarming, because the victim is one of the community's most prominent spiritual leaders. He was a pastor of the Harmony Free Will Baptist Church in Ada. He led that church in trying to help people out in the community and just trying to help their needs any ways that he could. Several of the members of the Ada Police Department actually went to that church. They knew David and Christy personally. People were just irretrievably shocked. 281, Sandra, we're going to need a detective. David Evans was born on October 9, 1970 in Camden, New Jersey, one of six children raised by Letha Richardson and William Evans. He was a baby. He had an older brother that had a cerebral palsy. So his mother, she had to devote most of her time away from the job to the older brother. So he roamed and went anywhere he wanted to go. By the time David was a teenager, his parents had moved the family to Roland, Oklahoma. He quickly developed a crush on a new classmate, freshman Christy Armour. Christy is part of a large family. We always attended church. I don't think she missed a church service in the first five, six years of her life. She was working part-time at a little drive-in, earning her own money. They basically met in a car. My dad was like, hey, he gave her a number and that's just what he did. My dad always liked my mom. My mom was very shy. She was just very nice, sweet, caring. Since Christy was nearly three years younger than him, David waited until her senior year to ask her out. David had kind of a bad boy image. He had long hair. He was a little wild. I believe he liked to party every weekend. I think Christy was going through a rebellious stage in her life. She had always been close to us, close to home. And I think Christy wanted a taste of the wild side, if you will. They'd only been dating a few months when they decided to get married in 1991. She turned 18 on May the 29th. They got married on June the 4th. I found him a job with a man that owned a motor rebuilding facility. Then they moved into an apartment somewhere in Fort Smith. Within a year, Christy and David started a family. She just always wanted to be a mom and a wife. My granddaughter was born February the 14th. She was the first grandchild and the only girl. Her brother was born March the first of the following year, so there's a year and two weeks between them. The next child, the baby, was a boy. He was born in 1998. Couldn't think of a greater blessing in my life at the time. Over the next 15 years, the family stayed in the Fort Smith area as David struggled to find a lasting career. She got a job as a CNA, worked in the hospital systems for a while. David went to work for Hastings Fort Smith, which was kind of a comic book game, toys thing. They hired him as a manager. He worked there for two or three years. And then there was a small Bible bookstore that had opened up in Fort Speth. They offered him a job. David began to see a lot of preachers and deacons come in. So David started taking some night courses at a college actually in Moore, Oklahoma, ministry courses. Christy was a big part of that. By 2007, David was ready to pursue a higher calling. When I met Dave, he was going to college to be a pastor. Dave was working with the college and career class. The way that they taught my dad was you're supposed to win people Jesus, train them to become basically the vessels of the Lord. He felt like this was his calling to do. Christy and David quickly became pillars of their congregation. Growing up, I was a pastor's kid. He was one of five on the staff, and I literally was there till sunup to sundown. My dad told me, nobody can do your job but you. Like, no matter what he did, he gave it 100%. We want lost people in our church so they can hear about Jesus. In 2015, David's hard work paid off when he was named head pastor at Harmony Free Will Church in Ada, Oklahoma. And Christy was right there by his side. The kids are older, and by the time David moved to Ada, they already had their own families and had moved out of his house. Christy cleaned the church. She led worship. He would talk about how much she means to him and how supportive she was of his ministry. She worked as a dietary aide at the Mercy Hospital. While my dad was preaching, she would be working with the kids and stuff. Dave was really quick-witted, and Christy could give it right back. She would give jokes too, and you know, you had to kind of be on your toes with both of them together. together. They seem to be like what you think the ideal couple should be, you know. If you saw them out in public, you would have seen two people that were madly in love with each other. They might pester or annoy each other, but it was like one of those sweet couples that you see walking down the street that they're just teasing each other. And you're like, oh, I want that. The devoted couple's dreams for their beloved church come to a horrific end after David is killed during an apparent break-in. How long have you guys been married for? 30 years. 30 years? 30 years since she did all. He just went on a trip to Mexico and just got back Saturday. Dave loved to help people and he that was one of the last things that he did was go on a mission trip to Mexico and we're helping the underprivileged there. Tell me again exactly what happened. I was kind of in and out of sleep. I haven't really been fully asleep. What time did you get us? What time did you go to bed? About 8.30, 9 o'clock. I mean we've been in the bed since we got home. Church. Oh my God. Christy explains that she awoke in the dead of night to an alarming sound. I just heard this pop, this loud pop sound. It startled me. So I sat up and I was like, do you hear that? And then he made this dark little noise. I was like, David. I looked at him and he's bleeding out his mouth and his nose and he had a hole in his head. Terrified that the shooter was still there, Christy acted fast. She then goes out to see if someone was, in fact, running from the house. Did you happen to go out to the back, check the back door or anything? Yeah, it was unlocked. Do you guys keep everything locked every time? Yeah, we're diligent because there's people that break in. While officers speak with Christy Another inspects the crime scene He began initially to do a cursory check of the bed and the area around the bed visually about disturbing the covers or any potential evidence. And one of the things that he noticed was there was no weapon to be seen. They were satisfied that David did not commit suicide. The evidence was pretty apparent. This was not a self-inflicted wound. So somewhere, there was a killer running loose. Coming up, detectives uncover bad blood in the congregation. I thought Dave had probably been murdered by a church member. And a lucky break leads to a suspect. He had already been to prison for committing an act of violence. Police in Ada, Oklahoma, are investigating the murder of Pastor David Evans, shot by an unknown assailant while he and his wife were sleeping. We decided pretty quickly because the connections of a couple of the investigators at the time had with that church that it would be in everybody's best interest to contact OSBI and have them come and take lead in the investigation. They pretty quickly arrived on the scene and took over the forensic analysis of the scene. There was no signs of forced entry. Anything of value that could be potentially pawned or sold for some type of profit is what you look for to be gone in a home invasion. None of those things were missing. If robbery wasn't the motive, detectives must determine why David was killed. Christy is saying she doesn't know that they have any enemies, doesn't have any idea who possibly could have come into their home and shot David. David's loved ones are also at a loss to explain his death. It was Monday. I woke up around 11 o'clock. I get a call from my sister, and literally she said that Dad's been shot. I called for my wife to come here, and I mean, I was crying. He's screaming my name. He said, Kel, Kel. And I come running into the room, and I'm like, what, what happened? And he starts bawling his eyes out. It didn't feel real. We were just confused and scared and didn't know what happened. We went over everything of who would have killed my dad. It was just so crazy. He says, who did this? Who did this? Why? There was no thought to what was going on or who could have done this. But as investigators speak with those closest to David, insights into his approach as a pastor pique their interest. When he went to Harmony Church here in Ada, Oklahoma, It was his first time being pastor of his own church. And I know when he first went there, he dealt with some opposition. You know, when you come in and change things, people don't like change. They basically, they wanted an old style of preaching. And my dad was more moderate in preaching. There are some things in church that you have to just talk about. It does make people uncomfortable, like abortion, like other sins, drinking and stuff like that. My dad would preach what he felt like was needed to be told. This church seems to have a marriage sermon every other month. They ignore the difficult topics, rarely speaking about sexuality at all, because let me let you in on a little secret. God designed sexuality, and it is good. It is good. Sexuality is not a sin. My dad's a pastor. Even if they don't intentionally mean to, they eventually offend somebody or somebody didn't get their way, and people get really upset. My dad's had death threats, so that's kind of why I thought Dave had probably been murdered by a church member. Investigators question whether a congregation member could have hated David enough to kill him. Hoping to find possible leads, state investigators talked to the Evans neighbors and church members. It was quite a shock for our community. If you're not related to somebody, then you're related to somebody who knows that somebody. Agents start canvassing the neighborhood to see if they saw anything suspicious. And they did see this white Mustang that was at the home that they knew did not belong to David and did not belong to Christy. and they noticed that it was at the home the entire week that David was on a mission trip in Mexico. That drew their attention. One, this vehicle was one that hadn't been over there before. Two, they knew that David was out of town and thought it odd. Police catch a break when they discover that one of the Evans' neighbors has a security camera installed. One of the individuals that lived across the street had her video doorbell, and they were able to identify the vehicle that had been there a couple times. Detectives begin by looking at the footage from March 17, 2021, the first time the Mustang was spotted. There's this mysterious white Mustang parked out in front of her house. This car was unique in that it wasn't in the best condition. So it was easy to catch the eye, especially in Ada, especially at that hour of the morning. It doesn't take long for detectives to come up with a person of interest. We got surveillance videos from some businesses in the area. And the license plate was visible, and they were able to run the tag, and it came back to this person named Khalil Square. They run his criminal background check to see that he, in fact, has a criminal record. Khalil Square, in fact, had already been to prison for committing an act of violence against another person. There was an assault battery with a deadly weapon. He and a guy had a confrontation, and Khalil stabbed him. That, of course, landed him in prison. He was there a span of four years. Investigators begin to dig into Khalil Square's background to see if in the two years since he got out of prison, there was any connection to Pastor Evans. Khalil came from a very loving family. He was raised by his grandparents. So Khalil was surrounded by people that likely influenced his life in a positive way. But some of the choices that Khalil made along the way got him in trouble. So it caught their attention that Khalil's vehicle was coming over there and David was out of town. With David out of town, investigators suspect there is only one person who may know why Khalil's car was parked outside of the Evans home. They start by reviewing the statements Christy has made so far. Not only was this vehicle coming over there for the time in which her husband was gone, but there are some things that Christy was saying. The dots just were not connecting. The inconsistency started with when she describes the scene that she heard a pop and stating to police officers that she had been in the room. If she were in bed next to the person who was just shot with a 9mm pistol, it would have been very loud and it wouldn't have been a pop. You wake up and you find your husband who's clearly been shot and you think that an intruder's running from the house. Most women are not going to go chase that intruder. That was just another thing that raised suspicions with our investigators. You can pick out inconsistencies in their statements, the descriptions that they make, pretty quickly they just felt like something was off. Coming up, Christy drops a bombshell. They are what people would refer to as swingers. And a surprising tip unearths more family secrets. She believed she couldn't leave, that he would kill himself, potentially kill her. . Less than 48 hours after David Evans' murder, Oklahoma state investigators are trying to determine the connection between Christy Evans and potential suspect 26-year-old Khalil Square. Police bring Christy in for further questioning. When confronted, Christy said, that was my boyfriend. She begins to tell the police that she's been having a sexual relationship with Khalil. And in fact, that she and David are what people would refer to as swingers. They would meet up in Oklahoma City and have their affairs in different hotels and motels and whatnot. But there was established rules that her and Mr. Evans had, which was that they were to not have any contact with any of their participants. They weren't even to use their real names. Christie says the affair with Khalil began three months ago when David initiated a threesome. He found Khalil through Craigslist, arranged a meeting with Khalil in Moore, Oklahoma, where Khalil was living at the time to engage in a sex act. Christy says they met up with Khalil again a week later But then Christie decided to see him alone After one of their threesomes that they had had at a motel in Oklahoma City she had left her phone number on a piece of paper and had dropped it on the floor. And Khalil had picked it up, and they then began to secretly communicate with one another. Which was in violation of all the rules of engagement that the two of them put together. Christy managed to keep the affair a secret by meeting Khalil out of town. But when David went to Mexico, the opportunity was too enticing to pass up. Mr. Square had came, stayed at the residence, and they had had several encounters, and he had spent the night there. Christy said she didn't come forward with that information immediately because she thought that it would just make it look bad, okay, that I had someone coming to the house while my husband was away. Christy claims she knew about Khalil's violent past, but never thought he would do something like this. She's allowed to leave. However, it immediately became number one on their list to engage in further investigation. Within three days after Mr. Evans' death, we had identified Mr. Square as a potential suspect. As detectives begin the process of tracking down Khalil, they get an unexpected text from Christy's daughter on March 25th. She contacts OSBI agents and tells them, my mother needs to come back in. There's something that she needs to tell you about this case. When investigators meet with Christy, her story changes once again. But this time, it includes a confession. She finally admits that, in fact, Khalil Square killed her husband at her request. Christy told the police that David had been verbally abusive to her, had been controlling. She claimed that they got into the swinger lifestyle because of his sexual perversion, that she didn't really want to do it. They just kept after her. If you love me, you'll do this. If you love me, you'll take care of my needs. David would go on verbal tirades, according to Christy, when she didn't do what he was wanting her to do. She felt that he was a sexual addict. He wanted to watch her have sex with other men. He is the one that would go out and establish connections between would-be participants. Christy has stated that she's probably slept with anywhere from 50 to 100 men and that he coerced her into doing it. Christy tried to say that she believed she couldn't leave, that he would kill himself, potentially kill her, and that she just felt like the only way out was to have him murdered. Christy says when David went on his mission trip, she saw an opportunity. While he is there, Christy invites Khalil up to their home and Ada, and he stays with her. She said she cooked meals for him and kind of envisioned what their life would be like together once David was gone. And they engage, of course, in sexual intercourse, and that's where they finalized the plot to murder David. The plan was for it to actually occur while she was in bed with David. Christy told police that she was going to give David a sleeping pill, make sure that he was good and asleep. She was going to leave the back door unlocked for Khalil, and that's when Khalil was supposed to come in. shoot David and then leave. Two days after David returned, she and Khalil put their plan into action. He went back and basically executed Mr. Evans while he was asleep. Christy is immediately arrested and charged with first-degree murder. People were texting me, hey, did you hear what happened? Christy shot Dave. She's the one that murdered him, and I was shocked. It was like a bad dream. The community was shocked that they found out about the whole lifestyle that my parents had. My family drove over. They all got out and said, hey, my mom went to jail. He's just sitting there, stuck on a curb, just bawling his eyes out and freaking out. Like, why? Why did this happen? Just completely and utterly. Devastating. Coming up, Christy tells all. The main catalyst, I guess, for me turning myself in was that I needed to make some kind of right out of what had been wrong. And the sordid details of her marriage spread through town like wildfire. She used her sexual prowess to get him to do whatever she wanted. It's been three days since David Evans' murder, and now, in the wake of his wife Christy's confession, police are ready to hear her story. I knew that if I wanted to have any kind of peace with God that I needed to turn myself in or make some kind of right out of what had been wrong. The main catalyst, I guess, for me turning myself in was my family. And they loved me and they supported me. And just the guilt was overwhelming. David loved us as much as he could love anything. I think his view of love and what that was was warped. It wasn't love, but it was what David knew as love. If something wasn't done, maybe his pants weren't washed, he would yell at me like, what are you doing all day? Why can't you get this stuff done? David Dame called a lot, stupid, idiot. And then it graduated to cuss words and slut and whore and you like to sleep around. And Mr. Square had said how beautiful I was, how lucky David was to have somebody like me. I didn't believe those things, but I wanted to because David just constantly put me down. I liked the positive feedback from the guys. The police did come to me. They asked me how my dad was like. I told him that he was nice to be around when we were at church and stuff, but when we got home sometimes, it was a different story. They had the Life360 app. You can track their location at where they're at precisely every minute, every hour. That's how controlling it was. After we moved to Ada and were isolated more from family and friends, sex was his escape. I was his escape, his entertainment from the burden of being on staff at the church. The swinger lifestyle didn't come into play until we had moved to Ada. If you want to combat sexual sin in the world, one of the best things you can do is purify your own life and stay committed and pure in your own marriage. He worked long hours at the church. My mom would do basically everything that he wanted. I feel like they really loved each other. And like when they were good, they were great. But when they were bad, it was crazy. It was abusive. It was chaotic. Like, no one should ever have to go through that. And Christy wasn't the only target of David's abuse. He was very abusive, sometimes physically and violently abusive to his children. They were scared of him. My dad did have a hot temper. When it wasn't my mom, he would take it out on me. Sometimes you just get so mad that he would hurt me. I mean, I went to school with concussions and stuff. I didn't tell my teachers. I couldn't really tell anybody, because I still love my parents. I've been a domestic violence prosecutor for over 20 years now. The issues that we had with Christy asserting that as some form of mitigation for her actions was that she didn't fall into the pattern of what we usually see. Number one, she had a job. So she had her own debit card, and she had co-workers that she could reach out to. However, I certainly don't condone anything that David Evans did. Hours after Christie's arrest, detectives tracked down her lover, Khalil. The OSBI did a search of his cell phone and were able to ping that cell phone in the Norman area. And they sent a tactical unit to the location of the phone and took him into custody without incident. When Khalil was questioned by police, he tried to initially deny involvement. But then when confronted with, hey, here's what Christy has said, he then quickly confessed to his involvement, including that he, in fact, was the shooter. But there's one major difference in their stories. According to Khalil, it was Christy who manipulated him into pulling the trigger. They had multiple sexual trysts, and it sort of, for a better lack of terms, blew Khalil's mind. He immediately developed feelings for her. He felt that they were in a relationship. He said he loved Christy, that they were going to have a life together. At first, the feelings seemed to be mutual. Christy called Khalil no less than three times a day. She texted him even more. She would FaceTime him just so she could see his face and make him feel special. But the tone of their conversation soon began to change Christy began her campaign everything from telling him stories of how horrible the marriage was how she was being abused, and that if David found out that the two of them were, in fact, still talking to each other, that there would be some consequences, and how she felt like that the two of them would never see each other again. Eventually, Christy told him there was only one way for them to be together and end the abuse. Khalil would have to kill her husband. Khalil really loved Christy and really saw a future with her. But he did not want to help her. He'd been to prison for a violent crime, did not want to go back. It was also a set of morals and values that Khalil had. He really had to wrestle with this whole concept of, you mean this is our only way out? But Khalil says Christy is hard to resist. Khalil sincerely believed that Christy Evans loved him. He just had pretty intense sexual encounters with Christy. That's what's left in his mind and how he wanted that again. Sex wasn't the only thing Christy was offering Khalil. David's $250,000 life insurance policy gave him plenty of incentive as well. She promised him $160-something thousand dollars and that she would buy him a brand new truck and the two of them would live happily ever after. That was the plan that was planted in Khalil's mind. She used her sexual prowess to get him to do whatever she wanted, which included murdering her husband. She screwed him stupid. I mean, she played him like a fiddle. According to Khalil, Christy not only came up with the plan, but she also provided the murder weapon. She was going to leave the back door unlocked for Khalil. Khalil didn't have a gun. And so she was going to leave a gun that had been given to David and leave it there for Khalil. He was simply to walk into the bedroom, put the gun to David's head, pull the trigger. But Khalil claims that when the moment finally arrived, he got cold feet. Once he got inside, something happened. He just absolutely could not do it, and he couldn't move. That's when Christie took charge. I told him, I said, you've got to do this. I can't do this. I don't know how to use it. I don't think I can do this without having to shoot him multiple times, and I don't want to do that. She pulls him up on his feet and says, go do it now. Go do it now. He, at that point, felt like he had no options. How would this play out if he were to wake up and catch me? And so it was under that mentality, coupled with the pressure coming from Christy, that he carried out the act. Coming up, Christy takes the stand. You want the judge to have mercy on you because the only one who can give you mercy. And the prosecution reveals damning evidence. The letters where she says, I'm so good and bad that any man would have killed my husband. By April of 2022, Christy Evans' trial is quickly approaching. Between Khalil's testimony and Christy's own statements, her defense team knows they're facing an uphill battle. So they come up with a plan. The big part of their argument was that she was a victim of coercive control. Basically, I'm going to mentally control what you do. She wants us to believe that she was so afraid of David. The only thing she could do is murder him. He started controlling me early, early on. and he was controlling what I wore already and who I talked to on the phone. If I didn't agree to do these sexual things with him, then he got very irate and his whole mood changed from being loving and you're the best and you're beautiful to you're such a rigid bitch. I can't stand the sight of you. You're so fat. You're ugly. However, prosecutors are convinced the jury will see through that argument. She was tired of that relationship. She wanted to enter into a new relationship. There was a chance at some financial gains, a fairly large life insurance policy that she would have. She wanted to have Mr. Evans deceased as opposed to divorcing him. As the trial date approaches, the community becomes increasingly split over who's to blame. It has divided my family. There has been a part where it's just my side, or dad's side, and then mom's side. I kind of play a little bit of favor of both. I do sometimes lean towards more of my dad, but this has devastated my whole family. I talked to my mom when she was in the Ada County Jail, and she told me that she already felt like she spent enough time in there. I'm not a judge, but I still felt like that she should have more time in there because, I mean, she did take somebody's life. But before the case makes it to court, Christy's defense falls apart. In Oklahoma, while battered women's syndrome is a defense to a crime, coercive control is not. So all of this evidence about him being mentally abusive, him controlling the money, or him forcing her into all of these sexual acts, none of that evidence would have been admitted at jury trial. In April 2022, Christy surprises everyone by deciding to plead guilty. Christy entered into a blind plea where she asked the judge to sentence her because we could not reach a plea agreement. And strategically, it was very smart on the defense attorney's part because anything you want to put in front of a judge in a sentencing hearing is admissible. And so they decided that they would have a better chance at getting a reduced sentence. Four months later, on August 9, 2022, Christy's sentencing hearing begins. The judge has to decide whether Christy Evans was an abused woman acting in self-defense or a seductive con woman driven by lust and greed. She didn't meet any of the criteria for a battered woman. Was her husband a cruel man? Absolutely he was. Was he a sympathetic victim? No, he was not. But he didn't deserve to be murdered. She had options. The prosecution comes armed with new evidence. Explicit jailhouse letters Christy wrote to Khalil and other men. Letters where she's bragging about her sexual prowess. She says, I'm so good in bed that any man would have killed my husband. One of the letters, she says, I guess I should have paid more attention to Dateline episodes. You know, basically saying that then she wouldn't have been caught. Now that sounds like a woman who's full of contrition, doesn't it? On August 10th, 2022, the judge reaches a decision. Christy Evans was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The judge said, you know, you've put out this public persona of what you've wanted people to see, but here's who you are. Your own words tell me who you really are. I feel like that the judge made a good decision. I do love and care about my mom dearly, but this is the choices that she's made. One thing we all agreed on is that but for Christie, Khalil Square never in a million years would have committed this crime. While David's killers have been brought to justice, the Evans family continues to struggle with his loss. My grandkids are not affected just by the death of their father. They're affected by having a mother who is serving a life sentence. They have lost, in effect, two parents in this situation. I feel like a lot of it, they made my dad to be this monster, but he wasn't like that all the time. When he was good, he was what a father should be. But no matter how wrong that they did, I still loved them. They're still my parents. If I could say anything to the women out there, just don't isolate yourself. Find somebody that you can talk to. Reach out to somebody because when you're in the middle of this situation, you are not going to be thinking straight. I really do think my sentence is fair. Overall, you know, you want the judge to have mercy on you, but God's the only one who can give you mercy. In September 2022, Khalil Square pled guilty and received a life sentence. Christy Evans is eligible for parole in 2062. She will be 88 years old. Abuse is never okay. If you or someone you love is in an abusive relationship, there is help available. Call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.