GORE, Okla. (KFSM) — A Gore woman has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge in connection with an October 2017 shooting that left one man dead.
Elizabeth Nicole Stewart, 25, of Gore was arrested in connection with the shooting death of Joshua Tucker, 33, of Gore. Tucker was found laying in a neighbor’s driveway with a single gunshot wound to the abdomen on Oct. 26, 2017. He was taken to a Tulsa hospital, where he later died.
According to the arrest affidavit, Stewart and Tucker had a fight at 99892 Highway 100 in Gore over Tucker spending their last money on drugs and leaving Stewart with no money to buy gas to go to work. Tucker told investigators she initiated the physical altercation and “slapped and hit Tucker a couple of times.”
The medical examiner said that Tucker could not have traveled far from where he was shot due to the nature of the wound to his abdomen. During the investigation, relatives, neighbors and friends told investigators that Tucker was reluctant to open the door to strangers, particularly when Stewart was at work. The gunshot wound he received was at point blank distance.
“It would be consistent that Joshua Tucker would only open the door to family members or someone he knew really well and trusted,” the affidavit said.
Stewart gave investigators two different stories of what happened that night, the affidavit said. She told investigators that Tucker owned a semi-automatic pistol and another revolver, but said she had not fired a weapon around the time of the shooting. Deputies tested and found gunshot residue on Stewart, the affidavit said. A shell casing was found just inside the trailer door, but an initial search didn’t turn up the gun.
Stewart later called deputies to say her father had found the missing semi-automatic pistol in a tote under the trailer, but the tote had been searched before, and the gun was not there, the affidavit said. Investigators also discovered that Stewart could not be accounted for at her workplace at Cherokee Casino Sallisaw for 52 minutes, and that a trip to the trailer and back would only take 42 minutes.
Stewart was arrested at her home Tuesday (May 22). She is being held in the Sequoyah County Detention Center without bond.
