Who is responsible, when a cross deputized officer, takes the life of a Cherokee Nation Citizen, on the reservation?
On June 29, 2021, Anthony “Tony” Martinez was shot in the back of the head by Adair County Deputy Skyler Sellers in Adair County, on the Cherokee Nation Reservation. On paper, an Adair County deputy shot a man in the head outside a rural cemetery; online, outside of court filings, it is almost as if the killing never happened at all.
According to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the family, Tony was riding a motorcycle on a state road in Adair County. Deputy Sellers, who was patrolling alone, allegedly pulled up behind Tony and initiated a traffic stop for a nonviolent traffic violation. The family says Martinez never threatened Sellers or engaged in any conduct that could reasonably be interpreted as a threat, during that encounter.
In a separate account given in a sworn deposition, a nearby resident testified that what she saw began when Martinez “came rolling down” into her backyard on the motorcycle while she was weed-eating. She stated that she saw him coasting slowly over potholes from the direction of the cemetery before he arrived at her house. She goes on to say that Tony stated that he had “just passed a cop up there by the cemetery.” She did not describe seeing any traffic stop on the road itself; in her telling, the first time she becomes aware of the encounter is when Martinez and his passenger arrive at her property on the bike. According to that deposition, moments later, a white Adair County sheriff’s SUV “came sliding” into the backyard from the road with no siren and no red and blue emergency lights activated, and the deputy who jumped out, identified to her as Sellers, already had a tan, two‑tone pistol in his right hand as he ran past. The witness stated under oath that the deputy did not say anything to her or to Martinez as he ran by, and that at no point during the brief foot chase did she hear him shout “stop,” “put your hands up,” or issue any other commands or warnings.
The resident also testified that Martinez, wearing sandals and loose pants, began to run south from her yard toward a fence line and a muddy branch leading up into the wooded hill behind the property, at one point turning back toward her, throwing his hands into the air with nothing in them, then continuing toward the fence with Sellers close enough behind that “he could have reached out and grabbed him.” She said both men climbed the fence one after the other and continued west along the fence into the trees, gradually angling away until they slipped out of her line of sight; almost as soon as they disappeared, she heard a rapid volley of nine gunshots in quick succession from what sounded like a single gun, followed by silence. When she moved farther into the field and shouted to ask if everyone was okay, she did not receive any response but heard a male voice over the radio saying, “Shots fired, suspect in the woods,” with no instruction for her to get back or call for help.
The first call into dispatch, as provided in the exhibits in the filing, shows that Deputy Sellers’ radio traffic began at 5:52 pm that evening with a “shots fired” report. Records produced in the civil case and attached to court filings, show how little documentation Adair County has acknowledged possessing about the killing: in response to a detailed Oklahoma Open Records Act request seeking reports, logs, video and investigative files related to the June 29 incident, the sheriff’s office replied in December 2021 that a two‑page radio log and a 3 page handwritten log was “the only documents in the possession of the sheriff’s office” that was responsive and available under state law. According to the family’s later filings, the county never produced any incident report from Sellers, any investigative file from the sheriff’s office, any audio or video recordings, or any other internal or external investigative reports concerning the shooting.
In the defendants’ answers to the amended complaint, Deputy Sellers admits he intentionally discharged his firearm at Martinez but claims he did so in response to Martinez pointing “his own firearm” at the deputy. In an October 10, 2023, phone call described in a court filing, defense counsel allegedly told the family’s lawyer that Adair County is “a small county” with “bad record‑keeping policies” when asked why basic documentation had not been produced. On that same call, the filing states that attorneys for the defense claimed an OSBI report said Martinez had a gun; however, according to the plaintiff, that report has never been produced in the case and appears to be another conveniently missing document.
Taken together, the missing paperwork and lack of public reporting leave almost no official trace that this shooting ever occurred. Adair County and the Cherokee Nation communities it serves deserve better than a killing that exists only in sealed files and whispered explanations. I wish I could say the story ends here, but it does not.
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