Do you know who murdered Kanisha? In a north Tulsa home, the lives of 27-year-old Kanisha Jackson and her boyfriend, 28-year-old Bryan Mitchell, were brought to a violent and tragic end on a summer evening. On July 10, 2011, a concerned relative went to check on the couple at their residence in the 600 block of 53rd Street North. Peering through a window, the relative was met with a horrific sight: blood splattered inside the house.
Waving down a passing police officer, the relative gained entry with law enforcement, who discovered the back door open. Inside, they found the bodies of Kanisha and Bryan in different rooms, both victims of gunshot wounds.
Kanisha, a teacher's assistant at Hawthorne Elementary and a mother to a five-year-old daughter who was thankfully not present, was also related to a Tulsa County Sheriff's deputy. Her boyfriend, Bryan Mitchell, had a criminal record involving drug charges. Investigators found drugs inside the home, leading them to believe the motive for the double homicide was likely revenge or drug-related, with Mitchell being the probable target. Police ruled out a murder-suicide and began investigating the case as a double homicide. There were no signs of forced entry, suggesting that the victims may have known their killer.
The discovery was made after a relative had been on the phone with the male victim just 20 minutes before arriving at the house around 6:30 p.m. In that short span of time, both he and Kanisha were killed. No weapons were recovered at the scene. Despite the investigation, no suspects have been publicly identified, and no arrests have been made in the years following the murders. The case of Kanisha Jackson and Bryan Mitchell remains an unsolved homicide, leaving their families with unanswered questions and a profound loss.
