In the late summer of 2018, the life of 38-year-old Mark Anthony Little, a male member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, was tragically cut short in his lifelong home of Shawnee, Oklahoma. On the evening of Monday, August 27, 2018, gunshots shattered the peace near North Broadway Avenue and West Dewey Street. Little was fatally wounded in the encounter. Emergency services arrived at the scene around 7:15 p.m.
and rushed him to a local hospital, but his injuries proved too severe, and he passed away.
A lifelong resident of the area, Mark Anthony Little was born on August 24, 1980. He had attended both Shawnee and Tecumseh public schools and was known by friends and family for his sense of humor and his love for keeping people laughing. He was a father to a son, Anthony Ray Little, and a daughter, Shea Alexis Little. His sudden and violent death sent ripples of grief through the community and his family.
The Shawnee Police Department immediately launched a homicide investigation. Their efforts quickly led to a person of interest, and within two days of the fatal shooting, an arrest was made. Investigators took 21-year-old Wayne Eric Dyke Jr. into custody without incident in connection with Little's death. Dyke was subsequently booked into the Pottawatomie County jail on a homicide complaint as the investigation into the circumstances and motive behind the shooting continued.
