Prosecutor Charges Father With Second-Degree Murder After Children’s Deaths

Prosecutors charge the father of two children who died in a hot truck last month with two counts of second-degree murder. The Tulsa County District Attorney said the charges are the result of information found through additional investigations. 

Related Story: Father Released After Video Shows Children Climb Into Hot Truck On Their Own

Family said 4-year-old Tegan was incredibly smart and loved school so much she would come home pretending she was a teacher. They said her brother, 3-year-old Ryan loved riding horses, had recently learned how to trot, and loved his Legos. 

"I have their little ashes sitting on a shelf. We tell them good morning and we love them and at night we tell them goodnight," said Tegan and Ryan's mom Cheyenne Trent. 

Tulsa Police said in June, Tegan and Ryan died in a hot truck. Their father, Dustin Dennis was arrested, and later released after Child Crisis Detectives say they found video showing the children getting into the truck themselves. 

"The allegation is child neglect that resulted in the death of these two young children," said Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler.

Today, the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office filed two second degree murder charges against Dennis.

"There was a bit of a delay in the filing of those charges and the reasoning for that was the information law enforcement originally had relied upon, what they had believed as a part of their initial investigation, turned out to not actually be accurate and we had to kind of pull back the reigns so to speak, and do some additional investigation," said Kunzweiler.

Tegan and Ryan's mother says the new charges are a relief.

"I am so thankful or the police department and everybody who has helped with this. I pray every night and I still do, that we get justice for them. Today, that has happened," said Trent. 

Dennis has not yet responded to any requests for comments. The next court date for this case is scheduled for Monday, and News On 6 will have a crew present.