MUSKOGEE, Okla.—Muskogee’s mayor is asking his community to come forward and tell authorities what they know—after a judge dropped charges against two of the suspects charged in last year’s deadly shooting at the town of Taft’s Memorial Day festival.

Muskogee Mayor Marlon Coleman says he believes someone in the Muskogee community has information that can help authorities get the correct people brought to justice.

“To the victims of the shootings that took place in Taft Oklahoma last year, I am still praying for you families to have the justice they deserve,” Coleman said to the crowd in the middle of an otherwise upbeat, optimistic presser about the city’s future Wednesday.

He called for people who witnessed the shooting at the nearby town of Taft’s Memorial Day festival last year to come forward and tell authorities what they saw.

“In order for the criminal justice system to work in favor of those who are victims, everyone has to do their part,” Coleman said.

FOX23 reported earlier this month when a Muskogee County judge dropped charges against two of the men charged in the shooting that left 8 people wounded and Sherika Bowler dead at Taft’s Memorial Day festival in 2022.

“I think it was disturbing to me because the case fell apart because there were no witnesses,” Coleman said. “The criminal justice system had people who were willing to talk, and when it was time to talk, nobody did.”

It’s left Sherika’s mom, Paulette Bowler, feeling hopeless

“It seems like there’s nothing being done for my child’s life,” Bowler said.

With around 1500 people at the festival when the shooting happened, she knows someone there knows exactly what happened.

“If it was your child—an innocent bystander that lost their life—how would you feel,” she said.

Mayor Coleman—while not elected by the people of Taft--says he feels responsible to echo those calls to help his neighboring community in pain.

“I think it’s so important for us as a community, that we don’t leave our neighbors with a sense that we’re not concerned,” Coleman said.

It’s why—again—he took time Wednesday, to make that sense crystal clear to those who know something about what happened.

“Hear me well. Whatever information you have, you owe it to your community and to your families to be certain that you turn that information over to law enforcement,” Coleman said. “And that the families of Taft get the justice they deserve.”