Sisters conspired to kill child’s dad under guise of child custody exchange, feds say

An Oklahoma woman teamed up with her two sisters in a plot to kill the father of her child and his new wife under the guise of a child custody exchange, federal authorities say.

Tierzah Mapson, 29, had a child with the father in 2013, though they separated and were granted joint custody rights in 2014, according to court documents. She received primary custody, and the man had a “defined visitation schedule that could be modified by agreement.”

But in 2018, authorities say the woman worked with her sisters to trick the man and his new wife into meeting at an Alabama convenience store to give him “temporary custody of the child.”

After the couple was lured from Orlando, Florida, to a halfway spot between the mother’s home in Tulsa, they were ambushed in their parked vehicle, officials said. He was shot in the shoulder as the bullet lodged in his chest.

“Store security video showed that as he made two attempts to get out of the car, additional shots hit the ground on his side of the vehicle,” officials said in the April 8 news release. “After the two took cover inside the store, the shooting stopped.”

The father was taken to a hospital for treatment, officials said.

Nearly four years later, the three sisters have been sentenced to prison in the Walker County shooting.

Mapson was sentenced to five years 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 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.

Sisters Elisa Mapson, 25, and Charis Mapson, 33, were each sentenced to 10 years 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.”

The defense attorneys for Tierzah Mapson and Charis Mapson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

Jason Neff, the attorney representing Elisa Mapson, said she has requested he appeal her sentencing and he plans to do so. At sentencing, he said, “she apologized to the victims and she never meant to hurt anybody.”

In documents filed in court, authorities say Tierzah Mapson did not bring the child to the meeting and stayed at a location in Florida where she and Elisa were temporarily living. The third sister, Charis Mapson, was living in Oklahoma.

On June 18, 2018, “Tierzah Mapson repeatedly engaged in false text communications with (two victims) to lull them into remaining at the Eldridge, Alabama, address several hours beyond the originally scheduled meeting time,” court records say. She claimed she had “ran into traffic” at one point, and then said the child “got car sick and puked.”

Hours after the child exchange was supposed to take place, at about 5:40 p.m., authorities say the sisters “caused a firearm to be discharged multiple times in the direction of (the father and his wife) as they sat in their vehicle at the meeting location.”

It is not clear who fired at the vehicle, but authorities say the shots were “fired by a wooded hill behind a nearby church.”

About an hour later, the father texted Tierzah Mapson to say there was “a minor emergency” and suggested a new meeting spot, court records show. She replied “we’ll just meet you in FL as usual.”

Later that evening, authorities say Charis Mapson texted Elisa Mapson the word “out,” and her sister replied “good.” That was one of about 90 calls and texts the two had with each other that day, though there was no contact between 2:23 p.m. and 7:11 p.m. In one of those texts, Elisa Mapson sent what officials described as “words of encouragement” — “it’s just like Halo” — in what is believed to be a reference to a “first-person shooter video game.”

Tierzah Mapson and Elisa Mapson texted and called each other about 75 times that day, authorities say, with a gap in contact between 4:48 p.m. and 6:39 p.m.

The white truck believed to be involved in the shooting was later driven from Alabama back to Florida, though officials say the sisters removed its black stripes.

Authorities say the sisters denied their involvement in the shooting when questioned later that month.

This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Sisters conspired to kill child’s dad under guise of child custody exchange, feds say."