US Marshals arrest 1 of 2 murder suspects in Oklahoma

DELAWARE COUNTY, Okla. – The U.S. Marshals arrest one of two murder suspects recently released from jail.

A task force arrested Dakota Buzzard in the Grove, Oklahoma area today, March 30, 2021. Authorities are still looking for his father, James Buzzard.

In 2019, county prosecutors filed murder charges against both men. Authorities say the father and son fatally shot Jerry Tapp at a home near Grove, Oklahoma.

The two men were sitting in jail until March 19, 2021, when the county released them. Why were they released? Neither federal or tribal prosecution re-filed paperwork after a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tribal jurisdiction. (Read more in previous article: Marshals search for recently released Oklahoma murder suspects)

The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office says because no new paperwork was filed, the jail had no legal authority to keep the men.

But the Cherokee Attorney General’s office was contacted the next day, Saturday, March 20, and they re-filed charges on Monday.

The U.S. Marshals say the men have connections in the Grove area as well as in Galena, Kansas. Authorities consider Buzzard armed and dangerous.

If you have information about where James Buzzard is, contact U.S. Marshals at 1-877-WANTED2 or USMS Tips at www.usmarshals.gov/tips.

On August 1st, Deputies responded to a home at 32501 S 685 Road in Delaware County, Oklahoma (near Grove). They arrived and found Jerry Tapp, 49, dead in the front yard from multiple gunshot wounds. His live-in girlfriend, Cassie Tennison, 32, had a non-life-threatening gunshot to the right wrist. She made the 911 call for help. Medical personnel treated and released her.

On August 2nd, authorities got felony warrants for two people.

Officials charged Dakota Buzzard, 18, of Grove, with first degree murder and attempted murder.

They charged James Buzzard, 46, of Grove, with accessory to murder. James is reportedly the father of Dakota.

Officers say the shooting appeared to be retaliation for a shooting incident in June of 2015 where Jerry Tapp fired a shotgun into a vehicle occupied by James Buzzard and an 11-year-old girl. The child received a non-life-threatening gunshot wound as a result of this incident.