A TikTok influencer who publicly accused her husband of child sexual abuse was found dead alongside him in an incident police are investigating as a murder-suicide. Sara Gilson, also known as Sara Duffey, and her husband Jeremiah Shawn Duffey, a basketball coach, were discovered dead from gunshot wounds to the head in Owasso, Oklahoma, according to police. A child inside the house called 911 and reported that his stepfather had shot his mother.
Lyle Landers, Gilson's ex-husband, said he had begged her for five years to leave Duffey. He described her as "a wonderful mother" who would "die for her children," but said she had been "stuck in a relationship where domestic abuse seemed 'OK.'" Landers noted that Duffey "seemed to have some sort of control over her."
Timeline of events
On June 9, Owasso Police received a report accusing Duffey of touching a female child during a school event. Police said similar accusations against him had been reported before. Duffey was accused of lewd molestations of a minor, and the case was sent to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Sara Gilson posted the accusation on TikTok on July 11. Twelve days later, police received a call from a screaming Gilson, during which an apparent gunshot was heard.
Court records show Gilson had filed for protective orders against Duffey twice in 2021, but judges dismissed them after she did not appear in court. A third protective order was granted, requiring Duffey to stay at least 100 yards away from her and her home. In the application, Gilson wrote that Duffey had threatened suicide and possessed a firearm.
Gilson's ex-husband says he begged her to leave Duffey for that long.
Separately, the mother of a 15-year-old girl sought a protective order against Duffey, alleging he kissed and touched her daughter, sent inappropriate texts, asked her to his hotel room, and paid her to keep quiet. Police said similar conduct by Duffey toward the same juvenile had occurred over an extended period in multiple law enforcement jurisdictions.
Police attempted to apprehend Duffey at the school where the allegations took place, but he had already left. Officers across multiple jurisdictions tried to locate him by pinging cellphone towers; the Muskogee sheriff's department used a drone. Nick Boatman, an Owasso police spokesperson, said: "He stayed just enough ahead of us that we couldn’t track him down that night."
Because the alleged crimes took place on Cherokee land and Duffey was a member of the Osage tribe, Owasso police referred the case to the U.S. attorney's office in Tulsa, which has jurisdiction over tribal land.
I had begged her for five years to get away from him.