Myrna Daniels, 61, was shot and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 1, 2024, as she was leaving for work at the Tulsa County Court Clerk’s Office. Colleagues called the killing a senseless act of violence. Reports say the shooting grew out of an ongoing dispute with a neighbor over her brother’s cigarette smoking; the conflict escalated during the week before the shooting.

Neighbors told investigators Brent Dean Austin had confronted Daniels and her brother about the smoking and, a day before the killing, allegedly pointed a gun at them and threatened to kill them if the smoking continued. Daniels had sought help from her apartment manager and filed for a protective order. On the morning of May 1 at about 7:30 a.m., Austin was allegedly waiting as Daniels left her apartment and shot her multiple times, including wounds to the head and neck; her brother witnessed the attack. Daniels was taken to a hospital and died of her injuries. Austin later barricaded himself inside his apartment; law enforcement arrested 25-year-old Brent Dean Austin and charged him with murder.

If anyone knew Daniels, her brother, or observed the dispute at the apartment complex near 17th and Southwest Boulevard, please come forward with information.