A long-running federal murder case out of Tahlequah is finally headed toward sentencing, after a father and son admitted to charges tied to a Sept. 5, 2022 shooting that left an 18-year-old dead and two others wounded.
Case Update: A father and son duo have each pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a 2022 murder in Tahlequah.
— FBI Oklahoma City (@fbioklahomacity) July 2, 2026
In a July 2, 2026 post, the FBI’s Oklahoma City field office identified the defendants as Jermyn Damon Vann Jr. and Jermyn Damon Vann Sr., stating that both men have pleaded guilty to federal charges and are awaiting sentencing in federal court, according to FBI Oklahoma City. The post does not spell out the exact counts or plea terms.
Federal case and court docket
Court records list the matter as Case No. CR-25-208-RAW and show that members of the Vann family were charged together in a multi-count federal indictment. One court order notes that the indictment runs to more than twenty counts and includes a forfeiture allegation, details reflected in federal filings summarized by Leagle. The docket traces the case’s move into federal court and shows ongoing activity as the case transitions into the pre-sentencing phase.
How the 2022 shooting unfolded
Local reporting has tied the deadly shooting to what was described as a long-running dispute among teens that escalated into an armed confrontation on Sept. 5, 2022. During that confrontation, gunfire killed 18-year-old Ethan Joe Gentry and wounded two of his relatives, according to accounts of the investigation and items recovered at the scene reported by Cherokee411. Gentry’s obituary in the Tahlequah Daily Press records his death on Sept. 5, 2022.
What they pleaded to and what’s next
The FBI announcement confirms that both Jermyn Vann Jr. and Jermyn Vann Sr. entered guilty pleas in federal court and that formal sentencing will follow. With plea terms not publicly detailed in the post, a federal judge will now proceed with standard presentence procedures and set sentencing dates, a process that typically involves detailed reports on the defendants’ backgrounds and the circumstances of the crime.
Legal context
The shooting took place within the Cherokee Nation area of eastern Oklahoma and was prosecuted in federal court, placing it within the kind of Indian-country jurisdiction that can send certain violent crimes to federal prosecutors under the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153, as outlined by Cornell LII. The primary federal murder statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1111, along with related federal firearm statutes, allows for penalties that can include decades in prison or life imprisonment depending on the counts of conviction and the sentence ultimately imposed by the judge; see statute text at Cornell LII.
In Tahlequah, the case has remained a raw point for residents, surfacing in conversations about youth conflict and gun violence nearly four years after the shooting. Friends and relatives have continued to remember Ethan Gentry in obituaries and community accounts that have followed both the investigation and the slow grind of the federal case.
