Woman kills sister-in-law because she took her marijuana grinder in Oklahoma, feds say
.png "Estrella Mendoza was shot and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in July 2022, according to officials.")
An Oklahoma woman is headed to prison after officials say she killed her sister-in-law because she wouldn’t return her marijuana grinder.
Alexis Danielle Flanner, 26, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to a Jan. 24 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
McClatchy News reached out to Flanner’s attorney on Jan. 27 but did not immediately hear back.
Just before 10:30 p.m. July 7, 2022, Flanner went to a QuickTrip in Tulsa with Estrella Mendoza, 37, and Mendoza’s husband, according to a criminal complaint.
Mendoza was Flanner’s sister-in-law, according to officials.
Flanner and Mendoza got out of a GMC Yukon and went inside the store, surveillance footage showed, according to the complaint. The two exited the store and stood next to the Yukon before going back inside the building.
The two then left the store again and walked to the driver’s side of the Yukon, officials said.
Mendoza then walked toward the rear driver’s side of the vehicle and collapsed, prosecutors said.
Mendoza’s husband, who was asleep in the vehicle, got out and tried to help her as Flanner took off in the Yukon, officials said.
Mendoza’s husband later told investigators that Flanner is his sister and that he was awakened to a gunshot, then saw Mendoza on the ground, according to prosecutors. As he was tending to Mendoza, she told him, “Your sister shot me” before she went unconscious, the criminal complaint said.
Officers went to Flanner’s home and found the Yukon there with a gun inside and blood on the vehicle, officials said.
Flanner later told investigators that Mendoza took her marijuana grinder and refused to give it back, so she shot her, according to the complaint.
Mendoza was a mother of nine and had a heart “made of gold,” her obituary said.
“Her smile will be forever remembered in the hearts of who loved her,” her obituary said.
This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Woman kills sister-in-law because she took her marijuana grinder in Oklahoma, feds say."
