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Press Release

Oklahoma Resident Indicted in Federal Court on Charges Related to Shooting in Walker County

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Alabama

            BIRMINGHAM – The first of three sisters indicted late last month on charges that they conspired to kill a Florida resident and his wife were arraigned today in federal court, announced United States Attorney Jay E. Town and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr.

            U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Ott today arraigned CHARIS MAPSON, an Oklahoma resident, on charges of conspiracy, two counts of interstate domestic violence, two counts of stalking, and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.  The six-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court also charges her sisters Tierzah Mapson and Elisa Mapson with the same charges.   According to the indictment, the three sisters plotted to kill the father of Tierzah Mapson’s child, by luring him and his wife to a rural crossroads in Eldridge, Alabama, on June 18, 2018.

            Defendants Tierzah Mapson and Elisa Mapson were arrested at a campground in northern California.

            “This case took an enormous amount of investigative coordination between a multitude of agencies, both here and outside the district,” Town said.  “I commend the FBI, the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, and District Attorney Bill Adair for their diligent work on this investigation. There is give and take to everything, and defendants that take off after their criminal activities here in Alabama will be given their day in federal court to account.”

            The maximum prison sentence is five years for a conviction on the conspiracy count and 10 years for each of the interstate domestic violence and stalking charges.  The count alleging the use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence carries a mandatory 10 years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the crime.

            FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alan Baty and Jonathan Cross are prosecuting.

            An indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

Updated September 30, 2019