Body Found In Shallow Grave Identified As Missing Woman, Suspect Faces 3 Murder Charges

Tulsa County prosecutors on Monday added a new murder charge against a man already charged with murdering two women this spring. Terryl Brooks’ new charge comes after remains found in a shallow grave last week have been identified as a woman missing since January.

That woman was Trya Whitaker, who was last seen alive with Brooks, who she was dating at the time. Court records show Brooks is currently on a suspended sentence in North Carolina for robbery and shooting a gun.

At a vigil honoring Whitaker's life over the weekend, family and friends gathered outside the family dollar where she worked, to celebrate what would have been her 25th birthday.

Her family on Monday released a statement, saying in part, "As a family we are both devastated and relieved, but we will not view Tyra as a victim but the beautiful soul that she is. We ask you try to do the same.... We also commit to take the pain from our tragedies and transform them into purpose to help ourselves and empower others who share the horrible experience of losing a loved one by violence."

After police found Whitaker’s body in a shallow grave last week, Brooks now faces three counts of first degree murder. He is also charged with killing Star Dancer, a woman he had been dating and Elizabeth Dillard, a woman he had only met days earlier.

"Three in such a short period of time really does make you concerned that there could be more,” Tulsa Police Lt. Brandon Watkins said.

Watkins said the one thing the three women have in common, is that they all had some sort of relationship with Brooks. Detectives do not believe the three women knew each other.

Watkins said police do not want to release how Tyra was killed at this point in the investigation, while police work to talk with witnesses.

"We have a handful of people that we still need to find, that we still need to talk to, and if they're able to tell us their version of events and it matches with what we already know, that's a good thing,” Watkins said. This is Tulsa’s 25th homicide of 2022.