Three Oklahoma Sisters Sentenced to Federal Prison for Crimes Related to Walker County Shooting

BIRMINGHAM – On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced three Oklahoma sisters to prison for convictions related to a shooting in Walker County in 2018, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. 

In July 2021, a federal jury convicted the Tulsa, Oklahoma sisters of various crimes related to shots fired at a Florida resident and his wife as they sat in their car at a rural Walker County convenience store. 

Tierzah Mapson, 29, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and discharging of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, two counts of interstate domestic violence and two counts of interstate stalking.

Elisa Mapson, 25, and Charis Mapson, 33, each were sentenced to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and discharging of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and two counts of stalking. 

Testimony at trial showed that Tierzah Mapson and the male victim had a child together in 2013.  In June of 2018, the child’s father and his wife, also a victim, were planning to meet Tierzah Mapson halfway between their home in Orlando, Florida, and her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take temporary custody of the child.  The victims and Tierzah Mapson agreed to meet on June 18th at a rural convenience store in Eldridge, Alabama, northwest of Jasper.

Testimony and evidence established that the couple drove to Alabama on June 18th, believing that Tierzah Mapson and the child were driving from Oklahoma.  While they waited at the store for over four hours, they received text messages from Tierzah Mapson explaining delays in her travel.  Around 5:40p.m, the victims heard shots, one of which came through the trunk of their car, hitting the child’s father in the shoulder and lodging in his chest.  Store security video showed that as he made two attempts to get out of the car, additional shots hit the ground on his side of the vehicle.  After the two took cover inside the store, the shooting stopped.  The wounded father was later transported to a Tuscaloosa hospital where his wound was treated and determined to be nonlife-threatening. It was later determined that the shots were fired by a rifle from a wooded hill behind a nearby church. 

“These convictions are the result of a collaborative  effort by a multitude of agencies, both here and outside the district,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said.  “ I commend all those who were involved in bringing these defendants to justice.”

“I applaud the sentences handed down today, as the Mapsons showed no regard for human life as they carried out their conspiracy,” SAC Sharp said.  “This case is a perfect example of how law enforcement can combine resources and efforts to bring violent criminals to justice.”    

The FBI North Alabama Violent Crime Task Force and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case with assistance from the Walker County District Attorney’s Office, the Orlando, Tulsa, and Eureka-Fortuna (CA) offices of the FBI, the Orlando Police Department, the Hoover Police Department, the Tennessee Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, and the FBI Electronic Device Analysis Unit at Quantico, Virginia.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Baty and Jonathan Cross prosecuted the charges.