Almost three years after a young woman’s body was discovered in an area pond her accused killer, her stepfather, may soon go to trial.
Wednesday was the 17th day of a preliminary hearing for 45-year-old Jerry Raney in Muskogee County.
He’s accused in the death of 19-year-old Sara Smart.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford has been following this developing story with new information from Smart’s family.
This hearing has been going on since February. Sara Smith’s murder case has gone through multiple delays and it took over two years to make an arrest.
But it’s been almost three years since Smart’s body was discovered in a 55-gallong barrel in a pond near Haskell.
Even with all of the delays Sara’s stepmother, Christene Smart-Leader, says Wednesday’s hearing is comforting to know the case is moving forward.
Today the 19-year-old girl would have been a 22-year-old woman, mother, daughter and friend.
"There's really no justice for a murder for someone who's life has been taken," says Smart-Leader.
The man accused of taking Sara’s life is her stepfather, Jerry Raney who prosecutors say was the last to see her alive, on January 30th, 2006.
Her body wasn’t found until August of that year, in a 55-gallong drum, floating in a pond near Haskell.
Her stepmother believes prosecutors who say Raney strangled her and stuffed her body in that barrel.
"He's [Raney] not just a murderer …he's evil," says Smart-Leader. "Everything I believe in. My heart and my soul I know he did it and I am not afraid to say it."
But Raney’s attorney told FOX23 news there’s no physical evidence linking Raney to Smart’s body.
