Prosecutors say Connor Allen Kinnamon shot Audrey Adams while she held their 5-year-old son.

STILLWATER, Okla. — A 27-year-old Stillwater man is being held without bond after prosecutors accused him of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend on Easter morning while she held their young son inside a Payne County home.

Connor Allen Kinnamon faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Audrey Adams, 27, who authorities say was shot in the head during an early morning argument April 5. Court records place the case in Payne County, where investigators described a family gathering that turned deadly in minutes and led to a cross-state search ending with Kinnamon’s arrest on Interstate 35 in Kansas.

The charge filed by First Assistant District Attorney Jose Villarreal accuses Kinnamon of killing Adams with deliberate intent. Court records also list an alternative count of first-degree manslaughter in the heat of passion, a lesser charge that could matter if the case reaches trial and jurors weigh the events leading to the gunfire differently. If convicted of first-degree murder, Kinnamon could face life in prison. If convicted on the alternative manslaughter count, the prison range would be four years to life. Kinnamon has been ordered held in the Payne County Jail without bond as the case moves toward a preliminary hearing.

Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers wrote in a probable cause affidavit that Adams had come from Tulsa the day before to visit the son she shared with Kinnamon. The affidavit says Kinnamon lived in rural Stillwater with his son, his mother and his mother’s husband. Before the shooting, investigators said, Kinnamon and Adams had been arguing. The dispute rose from words to what the affidavit called a small shoving match. Kinnamon’s mother separated them, but the conflict did not end. Adams called her own mother to come get her and the child, a call investigators said further upset Kinnamon.

The fatal moment came near the home’s front door, according to the affidavit. Adams was standing in the living room with the 5-year-old in her arms. Her mother was nearby, and Kinnamon was just inside the dining area, facing the front door. Kinnamon’s mother was in a hallway. Adams told her mother that Kinnamon had a gun in his pocket, according to the affidavit. Adams’ mother began telling her to leave with her. Investigators said Kinnamon then made a remark about shooting himself, pulled the gun and fired. Adams collapsed to the living room floor. Emergency medical personnel arrived and tried to save her, but a paramedic pronounced her dead at 2:47 a.m.

The child was not physically injured, investigators said. Adams’ mother grabbed him and left through the front door after the shot, while Kinnamon fled through the back door. Authorities said he took a black Buick Regal belonging to his mother and drove away. His mother called 911 and told dispatchers what had happened and that her son had left in her car. Adams’ brother had driven their mother to the residence and was waiting in a vehicle in the driveway when the shooting happened. He briefly went inside, then tried to follow Kinnamon, but could not catch up to him.

Deputies treated the case as urgent in part because Kinnamon had made a statement about self-harm, according to the affidavit. Investigators began pinging his cellphone to find him. Deputy Jacob Farmer reached Kinnamon by phone and started negotiating his surrender while dispatchers passed his cellphone locations to Kansas law enforcement. The pings showed Kinnamon moving north toward the Kansas line, then crossing into Kansas. At about 4:56 a.m., Sumner County sheriff’s deputies stopped the Buick Regal on I-35 and arrested him without incident. He was held in the Sumner County Jail before being returned to Payne County on April 9.

Investigators later searched the home and the vehicle. The affidavit says deputies found a single fired 9 mm casing in the living room near where the shooting occurred. The Sumner County Sheriff’s Office secured the Buick and found what investigators described as the suspected firearm inside the vehicle. The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene, and Adams’ body was taken to Oklahoma City for further examination. The affidavit said there was trauma consistent with a gunshot wound to the head, though an investigator at the scene was unable to locate an entrance or exit wound before the body was transported.

Prosecutors are expected to rely on witness accounts, physical evidence and Kinnamon’s alleged statements to investigators. The charge lists 14 prosecution witnesses, including nine members of the Payne County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said Kinnamon later admitted shooting Adams. They also said he told detectives that he and Adams had used methamphetamine before the shooting. Toxicology results were still pending, and authorities have not said whether those results will change the charges or the theory of the case. No court record reviewed for this report showed a final ruling on the cause and manner of death beyond the homicide allegation.

The case now turns on the first court stage where prosecutors must show enough evidence for the charge to move forward. Kinnamon’s next court appearance was scheduled for May 4, when he could seek a preliminary hearing. At that hearing, a judge may hear testimony from investigators or witnesses and decide whether probable cause supports trial proceedings. Defense filings, if any, could challenge the state’s account, the alleged confession, the firearm evidence or the alternative manslaughter count. Kinnamon is presumed innocent unless convicted.

For Adams’ family, the court record describes only fragments of a scene that unfolded before dawn on a holiday morning: a mother arriving to pick up her daughter, a child taken out of the room, a brother trying to follow the fleeing car and emergency workers attempting lifesaving care. The affidavit does not identify a broader motive. It also leaves unanswered what happened in the hours before Adams arrived at the home, how long the argument lasted and what the child saw or heard before relatives got him outside.

Connor Kinnamon remained in the Payne County Jail as the case advanced, with the May 4 proceeding set as the next listed milestone. Investigators continued to frame the shooting as a domestic homicide witnessed by family members and followed by a two-hour flight into Kansas.

Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.