A social media influencer was killed by her ex-husband less than two weeks after he posted on TikTok accusing him of pedophilia, police and court records show.
Sara Gilson was fatally shot Thursday in Owasso, Oklahoma, by her husband Jeremiah Duffey, who went by the name Shawn Duffey on social media, according to the Owasso Police Department. She was 43 years old.
A little more than a month earlier, on June 10, she filed and obtained an emergency protective order against Duffey after police informed her that he had been charged the day before with molesting a minor.
On July 11, Gilson posted a video to TikTok, where she had more than 30,000 followers, accusing Duffey of pedophilia.
“I’m bracing myself for the moment when Netflix releases a documentary about my soon-to-be ex-husband who I just found out is a pedophile,” Gilson wrote.
The video referenced a popular social media trend that mimics Netflix documentaries, with users pretending to sit down for a revealing interview. Her caption read: “I wish I was joking. #plottwist #netflix #documentary.”
Less than two weeks later, Gilson was killed.
On June 9, about a month before Gilson posted the video, a girl and a parent told police that Duffey, who coached the girl’s travel basketball team, had touched her inappropriately at an elementary school event earlier that evening, police said. Another coach on the team saw what happened and immediately intervened and reported it to the girl’s parents, police said.
“Similar conduct by this coach toward this particular juvenile player allegedly occurred over an extended period of time, in multiple law enforcement jurisdictions, in multiple states, prior to this incident,” police said Saturday.
Duffey fled and has not been seen by police since.
Because Duffey was a member of the Osage Tribe and the incident at the school occurred on tribal land, police said, they submitted the lewd molestation of a minor case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for review, “thus terminating the Owasso Police Department’s jurisdiction over this reported incident.”
Following the report, police contacted Gilson and gave him information on how to apply for an emergency protection order.
She did just that, and the order was granted on June 10, according to Tulsa County court records. Duffey was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Gilson and his home at all times. The attorney who represented Duffey did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
On Thursday, officers responded to a domestic violence incident at a residence in the town of Collinsville at 11:16 p.m. after a 911 call in which dispatchers heard a woman screaming followed by “what sounded like a gunshot,” police said. Dispatchers tried to call back but got no answer.
Moments later, a boy called 911 from a neighbor’s house and said his stepfather had shot his mother, police said. When officers arrived at the home, they found Gilson and Duffey dead with apparent gunshot wounds to the head, police said.
Police are still investigating, but they said the deaths appear to be a murder-suicide.
Gilson’s son was taken into protective custody and then released to a relative who was not involved in the incident, authorities said. Gilson leaves behind a son and a daughter.
“Sara was an incredible mother. Her children were the center of her world, and everything she did was for them,” said an online fundraiser organized for the children. “She loved them fiercely, worked hard to provide for them and dreamed of giving them the best life possible. »
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or go to 988lifeline.org to reach 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
