TikTok Mom Shot Dead by Estranged Husband Weeks After Calling Him Out as a Pedophile

Sara Gilson had been building a following on TikTok as a hairstylist and influencer who sold clothes and jewelry while raising her kids in Owasso, Oklahoma. On July 11 she sat down in front of a blank wall for one of those popular Netflix documentary style videos and looked straight at the camera. “Preparing for when Netflix drops a documentary about my soon to be ex husband who I just found out is a pedophile,” she said. The caption added that she wished she was joking.

Less than two weeks later, on the night of July 23, a child living in her home called 911 around 11:15 p.m. Officers arrived to find Sara, 43, and her estranged husband Jeremiah “Shawn” Duffey, 48, both dead from gunshot wounds. Authorities say Duffey shot Sara and then turned the gun on himself. A family member identified them. The child was not hurt.

Court records show Sara had already taken steps to protect herself. On June 10 she filed an emergency protective order. Duffey was ordered out of the house and told to stay at least 100 yards away. The order was extended through August 24. In her filing she told the court he had a gun, had threatened suicide, and had gone on the run.

That same day the mother of a 15-year-old girl who played on a youth basketball team Duffey coached filed her own protective order. She alleged Duffey had been caught by another coach kissing and touching her daughter, that he had sent the girl inappropriate messages, invited her to his hotel room during a tournament, and offered her money to stay quiet. A report was made to Owasso police.

Sara had filed two earlier protective orders against him in 2021, but both were dismissed when she did not appear in court. Friends and family remembered her as a devoted mother and the kind of person who lit up every room. She leaves behind two children from a previous marriage.