In the spring of 2022, a sense of unease began to settle over those who knew 69-year-old Star Rainbow Dancer. The Tulsa, Oklahoma resident, known for her kind and generous spirit, had uncharacteristically fallen out of touch. This silence prompted a call for a welfare check at her apartment near 32nd and South Sheridan on April 3rd. What responding officers discovered behind that door was a scene of violence that brought a tragic end to a life of compassion.
Star Rainbow Dancer was found
deceased inside her home, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators soon learned that she had recently opened her home to a homeless man, offering him a place to stay. This act of kindness, a hallmark of her character, had placed her in the path of unimaginable danger. The man she had tried to help, 22-year-old Terryl Brooks, quickly became the primary suspect in her murder.
The investigation into Dancer's death swiftly uncovered a darker, more extensive pattern of violence. Evidence found at the scene in her apartment connected her killing to another recent homicide. Just days earlier, on March 27th, Elizabeth Brooks had been found dead in her home in the nearby community of Turley. As detectives delved deeper, they began to suspect they were dealing with a serial killer. Their fears were realized when the investigation also linked Terryl Brooks to the disappearance and murder of a third woman, his 24-year-old girlfriend, Tyra Whitaker, who had been missing since January.
The search for Terryl Brooks intensified, culminating in his arrest on April 5th. He was initially charged with the murders of Star Rainbow Dancer and Elizabeth Brooks. Later, he also faced a murder charge for the death of Tyra Whitaker. In the face of overwhelming evidence, Terryl Brooks ultimately pleaded guilty to all three murders, bringing a close to the legal chapter of a case that had claimed three innocent lives.
