Tanner Dean Washington Sentenced to Life for Murder of Faith Lindsey

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – Tanner Dean Washington, 29, of Ada, Oklahoma, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend, Faith Lindsey.

The charges arose from investigations by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the District 22 District Attorney Drug and Violent Crime Taskforce, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office, the Pauls Valley Police Department, the Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department, and the Chickasaw Nation Emergency Management.

On August 31, 2022, Washington pleaded guilty to one count of Murder in Indian Country—Second Degree. As part of the plea, Washington admitted to murdering Lindsey on October 27, 2019. According to investigators, Lindsey’s family called the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office to report Lindsey as a missing person on October 29, 2019. During the investigation, law enforcement officers uncovered evidence of blood in two of Washington’s automobiles as well as on a pair of sunglasses found in one of the vehicles.

Law enforcement interviewed witnesses who reported that on the night Lindsey went missing, Washington admitted Lindsey “was dead” and “it was his fault.” The crime occurred in Pontotoc County, within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Despite an extensive investigation and exhaustive search efforts, Lindsey’s body has yet to be found.

“The defendant’s life sentence is part of our effort to seek justice and accountability for the tragic murder of an innocent young woman, who had a long and vibrant life ahead of her,” said FBI Oklahoma City Acting Special Agent in Charge Sonia Garcia. “I am grateful for the unwavering work of our investigators and our law enforcement partners in this case – may it bring some measure of peace to the victim’s family.”

The Honorable Ada E. Brown, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee.