Police in Owasso, Oklahoma, responded to a report of violence and found TikTok personality Sara Gilson and her ex-husband Jeremiah Shawn Duffey dead inside a home. The incident is being treated as a murder-suicide.
A child at the scene called 911, reporting that his stepfather had shot his mother, authorities said.
Pedophilia accusations and protective orders
Sara Gilson had posted on TikTok on July 11 before the incident, saying a Netflix documentary was coming out about her ex-husband and that she had recently learned he was a pedophile.
Officials said that on June 9, a parent and child reported that Duffey, a basketball coach, had touched a young girl at a school event. Police stated that similar accusations had been made against Duffey before, and that the case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office over charges of inappropriate touching of a minor.
After this report, Sara Gilson obtained an emergency protective order barring Duffey from approaching the home. The same day, another woman also obtained a separate protective order against Duffey, alleging that he had “kissed and inappropriately touched” her 15-year-old daughter, who played on the youth basketball team he coached.
According to The Oklahoman newspaper, Duffey gave the girl money to keep quiet.
“I begged her for years to leave him”
Sara Gilson’s ex-husband Lyle Landers told People magazine: “For five years I begged her to leave him. I offered help, but he had some kind of control over her and she couldn’t break free.”
Landers said Gilson was a wonderful mother and that her efforts to protect her children led to her death.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
