Influencer Sara Gilson’s late estranged husband Jeremiah “Shawn” Duffey will reportedly not be given a funeral by his ex-wife and children after allegedly killing Gilson and himself.
Duffey’s ex-wife, Stephanie Ramsay, told TMZ on Wednesday, July 29, that their five children were responsible for making any decisions about his funeral and burial under Oklahoma law. Per Ramsay, Duffey’s children felt he was not deserving of any memorial so he will be cremated and his remains will be placed in a family plot.
In her interview, Ramsay recalled that Duffey repeatedly threatened suicide during their marriage, including warning that he would “take [her] out with him” if he ever followed through. Ramsay had sole custody of the former couple’s five children following their split. (Ramsay confirmed that she initially started dating Duffey when she was 15 and he was 20.)
On Saturday, July 25, it was reported that Gilson and Duffey were found dead in their Oklahoma City home after a fatal shooting on Thursday, July 23.
Police later disclosed that 911 dispatchers received a call on Thursday from “a juvenile caller advising his step-father had shot his mother.” (Gilson is survived by two children from a previous relationship.)
The alleged murder-suicide plot took place following a tumultuous month where Gilson and a mother of a 15-year-old girl both took out separate orders of protection against Duffey.
Gilson was advised to take the action by local authorities after they received a report on June 10 from a local mother that Duffey had inappropriately touched her 15-year-old daughter. (Duffey was reportedly a youth basketball coach for the girl’s team.)
The petition accused Duffey of “child abuse” after a fellow basketball coach “observed through a window” that Duffey was “kissing and fondling” the minor on June 9 during private meetings.
This other coach alerted the girl’s mother, who alleged that she later found that Duffey was “sending inappropriate messages” to her daughter and offering her money to keep quiet.
“Once during an out of town tournament, when the whole team including myself were staying at the same hotel, [Duffey] got her [daughter] to come to his room [and] he touched her inappropriately,” the petition read.
Gilson’s separate order of protection required Duffey to immediately leave their home and stay at least 100 yards away from her through at least August 24.
On July 11, Gilson went public with allegations of pedophilia against her estranged husband. She followed a TikTok trend where people pretend to be interviewed for a Netflix true-crime documentary — though, in her version, she wrote that she was “preparing for when Netflix drops a documentary about my soon-to-be ex-husband, who I just found out is a pedophile.”
“I wish I was joking,” she added.
Weeks later, police officers were sent to Gilson’s home after receiving an emergency call where dispatchers heard a woman screaming and “what sounded to be a gunshot.”
“A few moments later, the E911 Center received another 911 call from a juvenile caller advising his step-father had shot his mother,” police said in the statement. “The juvenile caller was calling from a nearby neighbor’s home.”
Their statement concluded, “Investigators continue to work this investigation, although they advised it appeared to be a murder/suicide event.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support. If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
