In the late summer of 2014, the life of 21-year-old Tiara Sawyer was tragically cut short in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On August 18, 2014, a dispute in an apartment complex parking lot escalated into a fatal act of violence, claiming the lives of both Tiara and 21-year-old Verdell 'Delo' Walker, III. The female victim, Tiara, was a resident of Tulsa at the time of her passing.
The events of that day unfolded after an argument between Isaac Luna Ashton and Verdell Walker.
Witnesses reported that following a verbal altercation, Ashton produced a handgun. Despite neither Sawyer nor Walker being armed or physically aggressive towards him, Ashton opened fire. Walker was shot first. As Tiara attempted to flee the scene, Ashton pursued her and shot her in the head. After she fell, Ashton returned to Walker and shot him again as he lay on the ground.
Following the shooting, Ashton, accompanied by his girlfriend and a friend, fled the scene. Law enforcement, through a cooperative effort between the Tulsa and Jenks Police Departments, located the trio at the home of Ashton's mother. Ashton was subsequently arrested. During the investigation, the murder weapon, a. 38 special handgun, was recovered from his mother's residence. Ballistic analysis confirmed that the projectiles recovered from the bodies of both Tiara Sawyer and Verdell Walker were fired from Ashton's gun.
Isaac Luna Ashton was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. During his trial, he claimed self-defense, asserting that Walker had threatened him. However, multiple eyewitnesses testified that Ashton was the aggressor and that the victims were unarmed and had not physically provoked him. The jury convicted Ashton on both counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count of unlawfully carrying a weapon. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for each murder conviction, with the sentences to be served consecutively.
