Oklahoma dropped charges against Dustin Dennis, 31 for leaving his 2 kids of 4-year-old Teagan and 3-year-old Ryan on June 13th in the back of his hot truck which ultimately led to the children’s death. The charges of second-degree murder were dismissed and send to federal prosecutors.
What we know:
- On Monday Morning, Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler learned that the 2 kids were members of the Cherokee tribe and that their deaths no longer fell in his jurisdiction. The Cherokee tribe is the largest politically integrated tribes and is currently the largest tribe in the United States with more than 370,000 tribal citizens worldwide. Most citizens reside “within the 14-country tribal jurisdictional area that covers most of Northeastern Oklahoma.”
- The children’s mother, Cheyenne Trent confirmed to District Attorney verification and membership card according to PEOPLE. and the Supreme Court decided days before that half of “Oklahoma- Including Tulsa is within a Native American reservation” and has to be handed over to Federal authorities.
The U.S. Supreme Court today rendered a 5-4 decision that recognizes Oklahoma's Indian reservations for the purpose of federal criminal law. pic.twitter.com/DCyJnWt9eD
— Cherokee Nation (@CherokeeNation) July 9, 2020
- Dustin Dennis told authorities that he took a trip to a local QuikTrip with the two children around noon on Sunday and went back home, took a nap and when he woke up he found the children dead on the floorboard of his truck. However, video surveillance showed both kids getting into the truck on their own and they had sufficient evidence to move forward on the now dropped charges.
The Tulsa District Office is hoping to help Cheyenne Trent on the murder of her two children and hope Federal authorities pick up the case to charge the father. This is an ongoing investigation and any updates will be posted only at Black News Alerts.
