3 Sisters Who Plotted To Kill Couple Sentenced To Prison

Three Oklahoma sisters have been sentenced to federal prison for plotting to kill a man and his wife in Alabama nearly three years ago.

Tierzah Mapson, 29, Elisa Mapson, 25, and Charis Mapson, 33, hatched an elaborate plan to shoot and kill the father of Tierzah's baby and his new wife in 2018 after coaxing them to Walker County, Alabama, to meet at a place under the guise of a visitation exchange, AL.com reported, citing FBI authorities.

The plan involved binoculars, disguises, secret campsites, “good luck beads” and lies, according to authorities.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, sisters were convicted in July last year of various crimes related to shots fired at the Florida resident and his wife, whose names were not disclosed, as the couple sat in their car at a rural Walker County convenience store.

On Wednesday, Tierzah was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and discharging of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, two counts of interstate domestic violence and two counts of interstate stalking, according to a joint announcement Friday by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr.

Elisa and Charis were each sentenced to 120 months in prison for conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and discharging of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and two counts of stalking.

In June 2018, the child's father and his wife were planning to meet Tierzah halfway between their home in Orlando, Florida, and her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take temporary custody of the child, whom Tierzah and the male victim welcomed in 2013.

The victims and Tierzah agreed to meet on June 18, 2018, at a rural convenience store in Eldridge, Alabama, northwest of Jasper.

On that date, there were more than 150 texts and phone calls between the three sisters, including words of encouragement about what was to come, FBI agents said.

“It’s just a Halo,” Elisa texted Charis at one point, an apparent reference to a first-person shooter video game. Charis served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2007 through 2011, FBI agents noted in their original charging documents.

The victims drove to Alabama that day, believing that Tierzah and the child were driving from Oklahoma.

While the couple waited at the store for over four hours, Tierzah was texting her ex, explaining delays in her travel and keeping up the guise that she was coming to Alabama from Oklahoma to meet him. Investigators found notes on Elisa’s phone that listed: “disguises, ladder, climbing rope, binoculars, ‘write down what to text Thorn,’ luck beads, bless and luck, gloves and ‘after avoid Ala.’”

While inside their car, the victims heard shots, one of which came through the trunk of their car, hitting the child's father. Store security video showed that additional shots hit the ground on the man's side of the vehicle.

The man and his wife took cover inside the store, and the shooting eventually stopped. The father survived his wounds.

Investigators handling the case discovered that the shots were fired by a rifle from a wooded hill behind a nearby church, where a white 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck belonging to Tierzah had been seen.

“These convictions are the result of a collaborative effort by a multitude of agencies, both here and outside the district,” Escalona said. “I commend all those who were involved in bringing these defendants to justice.”

“I applaud the sentences handed down today, as the Mapsons showed no regard for human life as they carried out their conspiracy,” Sharp said. “This case is a perfect example of how law enforcement can combine resources and efforts to bring violent criminals to justice.”