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Influencer Sara Gilson’s heartbreaking death is revealing disturbing new details about the years leading up to the tragedy. 

As authorities continue investigating the murder-suicide that unfolded inside her Oklahoma home, Gilson’s ex-husband is opening up about the repeated pleas he made for her to leave her estranged husband. 

His emotional recollections come as newly released 911 dispatch audio, social media posts, and court records shed more light on the final weeks before the 43-year-old influencer was killed.

Sara Gilson’s Ex Said He Spent Years Trying To Save Her

Long before authorities identified Jeremiah “Shawn” Duffey as the man who fatally shot Sara Gilson before taking his own life, Lyle Landers said he believed his ex-wife was living in constant danger.

The 46-year-old, who shares two children with Gilson, said he repeatedly tried to help her leave what he described as an abusive relationship, but every effort ended the same way.

“Shawn had been a risk for her since they got together,” Landers told PEOPLE. According to Landers, he spent the last five years urging Gilson to walk away and repeatedly assured her she wouldn’t have to do it alone.

“She had been stuck in a relationship where domestic abuse seemed ‘okay,’” he explained, adding, “I had begged her for five years to get away from him. I had offered to help her, in any way I could, to get away from him. But he seemed to have some sort of control over her, and she couldn’t seem to get away.”

His fears became reality on July 23, when Owasso police found Gilson and Duffey dead inside their home. Investigators later confirmed Duffey shot Gilson before turning the gun on himself.

Gilson’s Ex Wants Her Remembered For More Than Her Final Days

While the investigation continues, Landers hopes people will remember the woman behind the headlines instead of the violence that claimed her life.

He described Sara Gilson as “a mom, a daughter, a sister and a friend” and “a beautiful person, inside and out.”

“She loved people immensely, and without judgment,” he noted, adding, “Her greatest achievement in life, though, was in our two babies.”

Landers recalled that Gilson used to worry she wouldn’t know how to be a mother, fears he said disappeared the moment their children arrived.

“She was always so worried before we had kids that she wouldn’t know what to do, or that she wouldn’t be a good mom. Turns out, she was a great mom,” he shared. “She went over the top for our kids, and always made sure that they knew she loved them.”

Sara Gilson’s Ex Believes Protecting Children Cost Her Her Life

Landers also remembered the pride she took in her work as a hairstylist and said that, despite divorcing about seven years ago, they rebuilt a friendship that made co-parenting easier for everyone involved.

“It had been the best thing in the world for our kids, but also for us. We coparent as well as anyone, and it has shown in our kids,” he said.

Looking back on everything that happened, Landers believes his ex-wife’s determination to protect vulnerable children ultimately cost her her life.

“She was a wonderful mother and would die for her children. In fact, her trying to protect children is what ultimately led to her death,” he told the outlet 

Sara Gilson Had Already Been Fighting To Protect Herself

@mrsgilson

I wish I was joking. #plottwist #netflix #documentary

♬ original sound – Sara 🌸🐚🌺

The fatal shooting came after weeks of increasingly alarming developments that suggested Sara Gilson was desperately trying to distance herself from Duffey.

On July 10, she filed an emergency protective order, alleging that he possessed a gun, had threatened to take his own life and had “went on the run.” 

Court records showed a judge immediately ordered Duffey to leave the family home and stay at least 100 yards away from Gilson.

Two days after filing, the influencer made headlines with a TikTok video that has since taken on heartbreaking significance. 

Joining a viral trend imagining future Netflix documentaries, she wrote, “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 in the caption. The post surfaced as separate court records revealed that the mother of a 15-year-old girl had sought a protective order against Duffey. 

According to The Oklahoman, the woman alleged Duffey kissed and touched the teenager after another coach caught them together. 

She also accused him of sending messages to the girl, inviting her to his hotel room during a basketball tournament and offering her money “to keep her quiet.”

Dispatch Audio Captured The Panic Before Police Arrived

Tik Tok influencer Sara Duffey was killed by her husband after she posted the Netflix documentary trend saying he was a pdf. he was caught kissing a child he coaches. He broke into her home last night, killed her and then killed himself. pic.twitter.com/YImNTdi2qZ

— Te-Erika (@Te_Erika) July 25, 2026

Amid the tragedy, newly released 911 dispatch recordings obtained by PEOPLE have provided a chilling glimpse into the moments before officers reached the family’s home.

During the call, a dispatcher told responding officers they were struggling to reconnect with the caller after hearing alarming sounds coming from inside the residence.

“I’m trying to reach him back, but I could hear a female in the background screaming and crying. Some sort of loud bang in the background,” the dispatcher said.

Another dispatcher then reminded officers they were dealing with “a male that we were looking for a few weeks ago after he got caught kissing a juvenile,” while also warning that a firearm may be involved.

Just minutes later, at approximately 11:18 p.m., officers arrived and discovered both Sara Gilson and Duffey suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. 

Authorities later confirmed that one of the children living in the home had placed the emergency call before another family member identified the victims.

The TikTok Influencer Sara Gilson’s Ex Reveals His Final Plea Before Her Murder first appeared on The Blast