Mourners gathered at a high school for a vigil on Monday night after the news broke that five teenagers were among the seven persons found dead in rural Oklahoma earlier that day.
As The Dallas Express reported, the authorities discovered seven bodies on the property of 39-year-old Jesse McFadden while looking for two missing girls, 14-year-old Ivy Webster and 16-year-old Brittany Brewer.
McFadden, Ivy Webster, and Brittany Brewer were all fatally shot in what appears to be a murder-suicide. However, the exact details have not yet been released by the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office.
Both Ivy Webster and Brittany Brewer were students at Henryetta High School, where some 200 people of all ages gathered on May 1 to mourn.
Brittany’s father, Nathan Brewer, said that his daughter loved children and wanted to be a teacher, per News on 6.
“It’s just a parent’s worst nightmare, and I’m living it,” Nathan Brewer said, per AP News. “I am just lost.”
Ashleigh Webster, Ivy’s mother, described her daughter as someone who “love softball … loved people, animals,” per AP News.
Ivy’s older brother Parker told reporters the situation was difficult to fathom.
“Horrible. Truly tragic, especially because we’ve known this family for like two years now and just unfortunate to know that Jesse was not a good man this whole time,” said Parker Webster, per News on 6.
Both girls had been friends with Tiffany Dore Guess, McFadden’s 13-year-old stepdaughter.
Her body, along with those of her mother, 35-year-old Holly Guess, and siblings, 17-year-old Rylee Elizabeth Allen and 15-year-old Michael James Mayo, were also found fatally shot on the property.
During the vigil, Holly Guess’ mother, Janette Mayo, described her grandchildren as active and caring individuals.
“Rylee wanted to be an artist and wanted to be a doctor so she could help people,” Mayo said, per AP News.
“[Tiffany] was the sweetest, most loving girl you’d ever met,” explained Mayo, per AP News.
Ivy’s father, Justin Webster, told AP News he thought they were all going to spend last weekend on a ranch near McAlester, where McFadden had been working.
He had not been aware of McFadden’s criminal history and, as Mayo explained to AP News, Holly Guess had only learned of it herself only a few months prior.
“He lied to my daughter, and he convinced her it was all just a huge mistake,” Mayo said, per AP News.
McFadden was incarcerated between 2003 and 2020 after being convicted of raping 16-year-old Krystle Strong, per 2News Oklahoma.
While incarcerated, he allegedly used a contraband cell phone to communicate with a different then-16-year-old girl. This led to new charges drawn in 2017 of child pornography and soliciting sexual conduct with a minor.
He was due in court to face trial on these charges that same morning the seven bodies were discovered.
Strong spoke to reporters and claimed that the justice system failed in this case.
“These babies are never going to live their life now because of this,” Strong explained, per 2News Oklahoma. “Because he was able to go marry, and live his life and just do all these great things.”
Justin Webster similarly criticized how perpetrators of sex crimes are processed in the justice system.
“The sexual [offender] registry doesn’t work,” he said, per AP News. “I think there needs to be action taken. There needs to be repercussions, and someone needs to be held accountable. They let a monster out. They did this.”
In Dallas, there have been 202 sex crimes logged so far this year by the police department, including 111 rapes, per the city’s crime analytics dashboard. Of these sex crimes, 72 have been characterized as “family violence crimes.”
The Dallas Express recently covered the arrest of an alleged serial child molester from Rockwell. William Bynum, 64, is suspected of molesting children as far back as the 1980s. The victims are believed to range from toddler age to the mid-teens.
As a Rockwall resident and trained therapist Dawn Rachel Floran told The Dallas Express, the disturbing case highlights the need for parents and caretakers to pay attention to children.
“There are too many times where children are being molested simply because we’re just trusting the wrong people,” Floran added.