Pregnant Oklahoma City victims shot to death, officials say

After fire at city home, toll stands at six homicides — four adults, two unborn children




Two of the four victims left in a burning southwest Oklahoma City house Monday were pregnant women who had been shot to death, according to the state medical examiner’s office.



Dead are Millie Barrera, 22, and Brooke Phillips, 21, the medical examiner’s office said Friday. Barrera died from multiple gunshot wounds, and Phillips died from a single shot.

Little is known about Barrera, but Phillips recently worked as a prostitute at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch near Carson City, Nev., and appeared in an HBO reality show about the legal brothel.

In all, four bodies were found in the house near SW 59 and Kentucky Avenue. Because Barrera and Phillips were pregnant, however, the toll stands at six homicides.

Authorities officially have not identified the other adult victims, but friends and relatives of Jennifer Lynn Ermey, 25, and Casey M. Barrientos, 32, have begun making funeral arrangements. Their identities have been established through multiple sources, and death notices for both indicate funeral arrangements are being made despite the fact that the bodies have not been released by the medical examiner’s office.

Barrientos had devil horns tattooed on his forehead and was in and out of prison beginning in 1997, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Barrientos, who was released in July, had been convicted of drive-by shootings, assault and drug offenses, among others.

Friends said Ermey was a dancer at Night Trips, a topless bar near Reno and Meridian avenues, where Phillips also claimed to have worked. Their employment could not be confirmed.

On a MySpace page set up as a memorial to Ermey, friends remembered her as a beautiful, inspirational woman. "She was an amazing, sweet person who will be greatly missed by all that knew her,” one wrote. "She had a smile that could light up a room. Her life was cut way too short, but she touched a lot of lives in her short time in this world.”

Kyle Eades, who met Ermey when they were in eighth grade, said his friend was a good person.

"I don’t know anyone who could have a problem with her,” Eades said. "She was just an amazing person, a good spirit. I love her. I just feel maybe she was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The one-story brick house where the bodies were found was rented to Jose Fernando Fierro, 31, about three months ago. His attorney, Shawn Jefferson, said Fierro was interviewed by police Wednesday and tried to help detectives find the "assassin.”

Jefferson said his client was not involved and is not a suspect.

Homicide task force

The Oklahoma City police homicide unit had moved to a bigger room with computers and dry-erase boards Friday, where officials said they could have more room to aggressively work the case.
The effort is something Master Sgt. Gary Knight said he had not seen before, but added that it made sense considering the tremendous amounts of evidence and information involved in the case.

"This is something we are taking very seriously,” Knight said, "especially when we’re talking about a homicide with six victims in one event.”

Police also have posted a large banner over a garage door at the crime scene asking anyone with information to call a special hot line.