Friday night pizza dinner family massacre suspect bought AR-15 rifle weeks before slayings and later confessed, authorities allege

Jacob Mayhugh (left) after his arrest (top left) in a booking photo (Oklahoma City PD); Shayla Mayhugh (bottom left), Patty Mayhugh (center), James Mayhugh (right) (GoFundMe photos released by family)

A 22-year-old son who got a text from his mother telling him that a Friday night pizza dinner was ready went over to his parents’ house with an AR-15 rifle, then murdered them and his sister before going on the run for days and ultimately confessing to the slayings, Oklahoma authorities allege.

The relevant timeline in the case against Jacob Terry Mayhugh began on April 25, when Mayhugh allegedly bought an AR-15-style rifle — a Palmetto PSA15 — and a 9mm Taurus G3C pistol, weapons that investigators said they found at the triple murder scene in Chickasha, where Patty Mayhugh, 54, James Mayhugh, 55, and Shayla Mayhugh, 28, were shot to death weeks later.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation said the Chickasha Police Department first learned of the triple murder on May 11, last Saturday morning, and that, based on the crime scene and other evidence, Jacob Mayhugh was identified as person of interest. A first-degree murder warrant for Mayhugh’s arrest was issued two days later, but he was not taken into custody until May 14.

That day, the Oklahoma City Police Department credited its cops and U.S. Marshals for Mayhugh’s capture as he sat on a bench.

According to the affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, the defendant on the afternoon of May 10 told his girlfriend that he would be going to his parents’ house for pizza dinner. His mother, around 5:22 p.m., texted Jacob that “dinner was ready,” documents said.

Investigators believe the massacre unfolded thereafter, since the pizza was reportedly left on a kitchen counter uneaten.

Police said they learned about the homicides just before noon the next day, when a 911 caller said “there were shell casings on the front porch” of the South 6th Street home and “possible deceased people inside the home.”

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Inside the residence, the affidavit said, Patty Mayhugh was found “obviously deceased” to “the right of the doorway,” while James and Shayla Mayhugh were fatally shot in the living room.

Cops said that Jacob Mayhugh’s gray 2000 GMC Yukon showed up in camera footage “several times throughout Oklahoma City” from 6:44 p.m. on May 10 until 4:40 p.m. on May 11.

“It was determined by Flock cameras that a male,” identified by his girlfriend as Jacob Mayhugh, “parked the vehicle and walked away on foot at approximately 1907 hours on May 10, 2024,” cops said.

When police searched the GMC Yukon, they found their suspect’s wallet, driver’s license, $738, keys, and “2 AR15 Magazines loaded with ammunition with writing on them in white paint pen.”

The “white paint pen writing” on the magazines was consistent with the writing on an AR-15 magazine found at the crime scene, authorities said.

On Thursday, Grady County District Court Judge Gina Lowe sided with the state and refused to allow Mayhugh a bond, noting that the defendant is charged with capital crimes and that there were no possible conditions of release that “would assure the safety of the community,” court documents obtained by Law&Crime show.

The judge pointed out that Mayhugh was in the wind for days after the murders and “did not turn himself in.” The bond denial further said that the defendant’s conviction is “likely” considering his “confession to the crime” and the “link between” him and the “weapon used to kill the victims.”

The defendant is accused of confessing not only to the murders, but also planning to commit other violent acts .

A GoFundMe campaign started by Shayla’s cousin said that his family is “going through an unimaginable tragedy” and in need of donations to help pay for the victims’ funeral, set for Monday, and associated expenses.

“My cousin, Shayla, and her parents, my Aunt Patty and Uncle James, are gone and we are still asking ourselves, ‘is this real?'” wrote Brandon Burnett of the “devastating” deaths of his family members.

Read the affidavit and bond denial here and here .

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