Family Of Tulsa Woman Reportedly Killed By Husband Say She Was Quiet, Kind

After tracking him for hours, Tulsa police found murder suspect Derrick Todd on Wednesday afternoon.  

Todd is the alleged killer in his wife’s homicide.

He was found in a car in the Walmart parking lot at Admiral and Memorial.     

Police said he shot himself in the head and is still alive.

Police had been looking for him since Tuesday evening after he texted two friends saying he'd murdered his wife Tonia.

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Tonia's family says Derrick texted her a crazy, rambling, suicidal message on Monday night. She was so worried, she called 911. He was taken in for evaluation, then released Tuesday afternoon.

They say she told him to get his stuff out of the house, and that’s when he shot her in the back of the head.

Tonia's family says she confided in them a few weeks ago that things weren't going well at home. She and Derrick had been married 18 years.

They say she was quiet and kept her troubles to herself.

"Always happy, never seen her down,” father George Jackson said. “Every time I saw her, she was happy."

Tonia had served her country honorably in the Army. She was an R-N who trained other nurses and was just one month from getting her Master's degree, a woman determined to better herself and give back to others.

"She was hard working, honest, sweet, kind, giving, serving, helping,” aunt Sylvia Wright said. “She had the most honorable character, the best person you'll ever meet."

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They say Tonia went by the house on Wednesday afternoon to check on her dogs, but didn't realize Derrick was home when he ambushed her.

Derrick started working for Tulsa Public Schools as a security guard at Central High School in August.

Police said he texted two friends in law enforcement and told them what he'd done, then took off, creating a massive manhunt.

His friends say Derrick was a playful, loving guy but recently had been posting some depressing thoughts on Facebook, but they didn't never thought it would turn to this.

"My heart sank,” friend Joyce Horton said. “It was devastating. I was really shocked and saddened by it."

Tonia's family is attempting come to terms with a life that no longer includes her and her beautiful smile.

Tonia's family doesn't want her remembered simply as a woman who was murdered by her husband. They want her remembered as a woman who had a big heart, who was always worried about others, always trying to help others and more worried about them than her own well-being.