Arrest made in case involving woman found dead on interstate off ramp

An Edmond man was formally charged Friday afternoon inside the Logan County Courthouse in the case of a 33-year-old woman who was found dead on an Interstate 35 off ramp last week.

On Dec. 14, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and Oklahoma Highway Patrol responded to the I-35 southbound Seward Road off ramp shortly after 10:30 p.m. and found Vanya Janiece Evans dead in the roadway.

She was pronounced dead at the scene with head injuries.

A BOLO (be on the look out) message was sent to nearby law enforcement agencies in an attempt to find a vehicle with front end damage.

Guthrie News Page was at the scene shortly after law enforcement arrived. Related article: Person found dead on I-35 off ramp

Just hours before being found, Evans pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication and obstructing an officer and was released from custody from the Logan County Jail.

Mark Ronald Robbins, 30, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. He was handed down a $25,000 bond.

On Dec. 17, an anonymous tip was received letting investigators know where the damaged truck was located and how the owner was concealing the vehicle to hide the damage.

Deputies, along with an agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) and the Edmond Police Department, executed a search warrant on an Edmond home at 601 Vista Lane.

Deputies made contact with Robbins at the home where at first he denied he was involved with a hit and run accident. He said he hit a deer in Nichols Hills a few weeks prior, according to a court document.

The court document states the truck at the home was missing front end grill pieces that matched the auto parts at the scene of the accident.

Later at the home, Robbins told the OSBI agent, “I did it, I hit her I am sorry,” as he began to cry. “She was wearing all black. I could not see her.”

Robbins was asked why he left the scene and told investigators his passenger – later identified as Brandon Reupert – had a warrant for his arrest and told him to leave.

“I freaked out,” Robbins told the investigators.

Robbins was arrested on Thursday.

The suspect said he estimated his speed was “maybe 40 mph” when he struck the victim.

Reupert, who was in custody already on an unrelated warrant arrest, confirmed he was the passenger in the vehicle when it struck the victim.

Robbins is expected to appear back in court on the preliminary hearing docket set for Jan. 25 at 9 a.m.