OKEMAH, Okla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A 25-year-old man charged last week in the 2008 slayings of two Oklahoma girls was denied bond as he appeared before a judge while wearing a bulletproof vest.
Kevin Sweat said only, "Yes, sir," when asked by Okfuskee County District Judge David Martin if he understood the charges against him, the Tulsa (Okla.) World reported.
Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty for Sweat, charged Friday with two counts of first-degree murder in the June 8, 2008, shooting deaths of Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Whitaker, 11, along a dirt road northeast of Weleetka in rural Okfuskee County.
After being ordered jailed without bond, Sweat was taken back to the Seminole County Jail.
Family and friends of the two girls, as well as those of Ashley Taylor, 23, Sweat's former girlfriend, whom he is also accused of killing, watched the proceedings Tuesday. Some became emotional when he entered the courtroom under heavy protection of law enforcement.
Sweat is due in court Feb. 22 for a preliminary hearing on charges related to the slaying of Ashley Taylor, and a motions hearing in that case is set for the same day, the World said.
