Investigators say witness statements, a recovered gun and an alleged confession support the murder charge.
STILLWATER, Okla. — A single fired 9 mm casing found in a living room is among the key evidence in the case against a Payne County man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend on Easter morning.
Connor Allen Kinnamon, 27, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Audrey Adams, 27, after investigators said he shot her inside a rural Stillwater home while she held their 5-year-old son. The early evidence listed in a probable cause affidavit includes family witness accounts, the casing, a suspected firearm recovered in Kansas, cellphone location data and Kinnamon’s alleged confession. He is being held without bond in the Payne County Jail.
The physical evidence begins inside the home where Kinnamon lived with his son, his mother and his mother’s husband. Adams had traveled from Tulsa the day before to visit the child. Before dawn April 5, she and Kinnamon argued, according to Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers. The argument became physical enough that Kinnamon’s mother separated them. Adams called her mother to come pick her up. Investigators said that call agitated Kinnamon. By the time Adams’ mother arrived, several relatives were in place around the living room, dining area and hallway.
The affidavit’s most direct account comes from the seconds before the gunshot. Adams was near the front door with the child in her arms. Kinnamon stood just inside the dining area. Adams’ mother was beside her, and Kinnamon’s mother was in the hallway. Adams told her mother that Kinnamon had a gun in his pocket, according to investigators. Her mother began telling Adams to come with her. Kinnamon said something about shooting himself, then pulled the gun and fired, the affidavit says. Adams collapsed onto the living room floor. A paramedic pronounced her dead at 2:47 a.m.
The fired casing gave investigators a fixed point in the room. Deputies later found one spent 9 mm casing in the living room near where the shooting occurred. The affidavit does not describe multiple shots, and the public record reviewed for this report does not include a final ballistics comparison. The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene. An investigator saw trauma consistent with a gunshot wound to the head, though the affidavit said an entrance or exit wound was not located at the scene before Adams was transported to Oklahoma City for examination.
The second major evidence point came from the fleeing vehicle. Authorities said Kinnamon ran out the back door after the shooting and drove away in his mother’s black Buick Regal. His mother called 911, and Adams’ mother carried the child out through the front door. Deputies began tracking Kinnamon’s cellphone because of his reported statement about self-harm. Deputy Jacob Farmer reached him by phone and negotiated while dispatchers relayed location updates to Kansas officers. At about 4:56 a.m., Sumner County deputies stopped the Buick on I-35 and arrested Kinnamon without incident.
Investigators said the suspected firearm was found inside the Buick after the Kansas stop. That recovery links the vehicle to the living room evidence in the state’s account, though later court proceedings would determine how the evidence is admitted and challenged. Prosecutors also said in a motion seeking no bond that Kinnamon shot Adams in the back of the head and later confessed to killing her. The affidavit says Kinnamon told detectives that he and Adams had used methamphetamine before the shooting. Toxicology tests were pending when the early reports were filed.
The state’s legal theory includes both intent and an alternative. Kinnamon is charged with first-degree murder with deliberate intent, which could bring a life sentence if he is convicted. Prosecutors also filed an alternative count of first-degree manslaughter in the heat of passion, which carries a possible sentence of four years to life. The murder count depends on proving deliberate intent beyond a reasonable doubt. The alternative count preserves a second path if a judge or jury accepts that the killing happened during a sudden emotional conflict but still finds criminal liability.
The witness list offers a preview of how prosecutors may build the case. Fourteen witnesses are listed for the prosecution, including nine members of the Payne County Sheriff’s Office. Their testimony could cover the crime scene, the location of the casing, the 911 response, the cellphone pings, the recovery of the gun and the transport of Kinnamon from Kansas back to Oklahoma. Family witnesses could speak to the argument, the positions of people in the room, Adams’ statement about the gun and what happened immediately after the shot. Kinnamon is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The unanswered questions are narrower than the known facts but still important. The affidavit does not say how long Adams planned to stay in Stillwater, what discussion led to the argument or whether any prior custody order governed the child’s visit. It does not release a full autopsy, a ballistics report or toxicology results. It also does not include a transcript of Kinnamon’s alleged confession or the phone call in which Deputy Farmer negotiated his surrender. Those records may surface later through hearings, filings or testimony if the case advances.
Some public summaries have pointed to earlier domestic concerns, including past calls and a denied protective order request. The murder case now in Payne County, however, is built around the April 5 shooting and the evidence collected after it. Officials have not said that any prior court ruling directly caused the shooting, and the current charge does not depend on proving earlier violence. Still, any prior contact between Adams and Kinnamon could become relevant if prosecutors seek to show motive, fear, intent or the history between the former couple.
The child was not physically injured, investigators said, but his presence is central to the case record. He was in his mother’s arms when the gun was fired, then was taken out of the home by his grandmother. The affidavit does not describe his condition afterward or any child welfare action. Authorities have released no detailed account of what he saw. In the criminal case, his presence helps establish where Adams was standing and who else was nearby, while also marking the shooting as a family tragedy witnessed at close range.
The next stage was expected to determine whether the evidence, from the living room casing to the recovered gun and witness accounts, is enough to carry the case toward trial. Kinnamon was returned to Payne County on April 9 and remained jailed without bond ahead of a May 4 court appearance.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.