Airman dies of wounds; Oberlin man faces charges

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

OBERLIN, Kansas -- A 24-year-old Oberlin, Kansas, man has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of another Oberlin man, a graduate earlier this month of the U.S. Air Force Security Forces Technical School in San Antonio, Texas.

Dylan Robert Coryell Jr. was arrested and initially charged with aggravated battery following the shooting of 22-year-old Corey Ryan Cook early Sunday morning in a rural home northwest of Jennings, Kansas, in rural Decatur County.

Following Cook's death Monday at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has charged Coryell with first degree premeditated murder, an alternative count of first degree felony murder, aggravated battery and aggravated burglary.

Coryell is in custody of the Decatur County Sheriff's office, and his bond has been set at $500,000. His next court appearance will be Friday, Oct. 28, at 1:30 p.m.

Corey's father, Todd Cook, told the Oberlin Herald that his son was an airman with the 823rd Special Tactics Unit of Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. The younger Cook was en route from San Antonio to Georgia when he stopped at home for a visit.

Todd Cook said his son was an organ donor.

The case is being investigated by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Decatur County Sheriff's Office and the Oberlin Police Department. Decatur County officials have requested the assistance of the Kansas attorney general's office, and the case has been assigned to Nicole Romine, an assistant attorney general in Goodland, Kansas.