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Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with shooting his girlfriend when she tried to end their relationship in 2021 in Indian Country.
On December 2, 2021, the defendant, Jeffrey Sutton returned to his Mounds home and found that his girlfriend, the victim, had moved her belongings out onto the front lawn. She had decided to move out of the house after multiple arguments occurred between the two.
Sutton and the victim argued outside their residence. Then Sutton drew a 9mm handgun and fired at least eight times toward the victim. One of the shots stuck the victim in the chest near her armpit. She retreated into the house, and Sutton chased her, threatening to kill her and “all her people in Bixby.”
Sutton continued to threaten to shoot the victim while in the house and refused to call 911.
The victim then fled outside to her neighbor’s house. Sutton again chased her and shouted toward the neighbors, “I’m not trying to shoot you; I’m just trying to shoot her.” The neighbors allowed the victim inside, hid her in a closet and called 911.
A deputy from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department was the first to respond to the scene and found Sutton in the front lawn. Sutton was still carrying the firearm, which was empty at that point. He called the victim an expletive and stated that she “was trying to kick me out of the house.” Sutton was taken into custody.
Law enforcement applied pressure to the victim’s wound at the crime scene and described the victim as “in shock.” She was then transported to the hospital, where it was determined that her chest injury had an entry wound and then a graze pattern, but the bullet was no longer inside her. She was treated and later released from the hospital.
An investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was called to the scene and identified eight shell casings outside near Sutton’s truck. He further found multiple bullet holes and defects in the front of the house, in the victim’s belongings on the front lawn, and inside the house.
A trajectory analysis showed that several shots were fired from the direction of the truck that struck the residence door where the victim was retreating to.
In closing arguments, the defense argued that the victim was not credible and that Sutton was only trying to protect himself and deescalate the situation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Briden reminded the jury that Sutton was the owner of a Bixby gun store and trained in handling a firearm, and that the only one trapped and scared during the shooting incident was the victim. Sutton, he argued, picked out a firearm from his vehicle that was fully loaded with a 17-round magazine then closed the distance between himself and the victim when he chased her and fired at her again and again. He then reminded the jury that the victim’s testimony, witness testimony, and the trajectory analysis at the crime scene all pointed to the same thing— that Sutton was guilty on all counts.
The FBI, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven J. Briden and Kristin F. Harrington are prosecuting the case.
18 USC 1151, 1152, and 113(a)(1): Assault with Intent to Commit Murder in Indian Country; Forfeiture Allegation: 18 USC 924(d) and 28 USC 2461(c): Firearms Forfeiture
(1)
18 USC 924(c)(1)(A)(iii): Carrying, Using, Brandishing and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Forfeiture Allegation: 18 USC 924(d) and 28 USC 2461(c): Firearms Forfeiture
(2)
18 USC 924(c)(1)(A)(iii): Carrying, Using, Brandishing, and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Forfeiture Allegation: 18 USC 924(d) and 28 USC 2461(c) - Firearms Forfeiture
(2s)
18 USC 1151, 1152, and 113(a)(3): Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country; Forfeiture Allegation: 18 USC 924(d) and 28 USC 2461(c) - Firearms Forfeiture
(3s)
Outcome: Jeffrey Sutton, 54, was found guilty of carrying, using, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and assault with dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm in Indian Country.
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