Teacher, Former High School Football Player, Social Worker, Friends and Neighbor Called to Oklahoma For Wilmington Man's Death Penalty Murder Trial

A school social worker, a former high school football player, a science teacher, friends and a neighbor of a Wilmington man charged with the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl have been called to Oklahoma for his death penalty trial.

Miles Sterling Bench, 23, was arrested for allegedly murdering Braylee Henry in June 2012. Braylee had visited the Oklahoma convenience store where Bench was working just before he allegedly killed her, according to the Oklahoma Legal Group.

“On June 6, 2012, a customer entering the Tee Pee Totem convenience store called police to report that there was no clerk in the store,” the story on the Oklahoma Legal group website said. “Police arrived to find the store unattended and a large puddle of blood in a back room. While they were investigating the empty store, they received another call that a 16-year-old girl was missing after leaving home to get drinks at a convenience store. They tracked the victim’s OnStar-enabled car and found Bench, with blood on his shirt, driving Braylee Henry’s car. He allegedly told police, “I think I (expletive) up. I think I killed somebody earlier tonight.”

Bench was on conditional discharge at the time of the killing. He had pled guilty in Will County court to a charge of possessing a stolen vehicle. Bench was living at Great Lakes Naval Base when he was arrested for the Will County case, according to court records. A court filing said he deserted from the Navy.

Stephens County, OK, Judge G. Brent Russell requested that six witnesses be brought down from Will County for Bench’s murder trial. One, Jack Skole, is a Wilmington School Distroct social worker and is expected to testify that “any issues involving Bench that Skole was involved with were minor incidents, the incidents never escalated, and he did not believe Bench ever posed a danger to any other students,” according to court papers. “He will also testify that something odd must have been going on with Miles to act the way he allegedly did in this case because it is not indicative of the Bench he knew.”

Also called down to Oklahoma was Solomon Gans, who will testify “he knew Miles Bench in high school through sports … and that Bench lacked understanding of blocking schemes in football and lacked understanding of other sports related concepts,” the court filing said.

Steven Luckey, a childhood friend of Miles Bench’s brother, Ryan, is expected to testify about the “Bench family dynamics,” the filing said. Neighbor Rebecca Becker “can testify that (Bench) was an extremely polite child that didn’t get into trouble. She can also testify that she saw him during the incident in the Navy and that he didn’t look like the boy she knew. She didn’t know what was wrong, but she did know there was something drastically wrong with him.”

Bench’s friend Justin Mike Popovich is expected to testify to Bench’s “behavior and demeanor as a teenager and (his) behavior and demeanor while he was in the Navy and immediately after the Navy,” the filing said. “He can testify he had contact with (Bench) during the AWOL incident. He can testify to (his) enthusiasm about joining the Navy. He can testify that during the Navy incident, Miles became increasingly weird and delusional.”

Eighth grade science teacher Sherry Shelley is expected to “testify that Miles was a kid who wanted to do very well and get out of special education,” the filing said. “He was always trying to improve himself. He was a very good kid, he was kind to other kids, and had a good sense of humor.”

Bench’s trial was scheduled to begin Feb. 9, according to District Attorney Jason Hicks’ office.

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