President of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce and Husband Found Dead

A Black couple has been reported dead as they were discovered in their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday morning according to the Bixby Police Department.

According to The Independent, the slain couple was identified as Sherry Gamble Smith and her husband Martin Everett Smith. Sherry, who was President of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce was found dead when police officers arrived at the residence.

Her husband was taken to the hospital in critical condition before he later died.

Police authorities said that officers responded to the home near 111th and Mingo after receiving a phone call at 8:05 a.m. and arrived there 6 minutes later at 8:11 a.m.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation will be assisting the Bixby Police Department in the case. They are not looking for any suspects.

“It appears to be domestic in nature but the investigation is still underway to determine the timeline and what lead to this tragedy,” Seth Adcock of the Bixby Police Department expressed to The Independent.

Ken Levit, executive director of the Tulsa-area George Kaiser Family Foundation acknowledged Sherry from his Twitter account.

My heart is very heavy over the death of Sherry Gamble Smith, visionary leader of the Black Wall Street Chamber in Tulsa. She was a warm and wonderful human being full of generosity in spirit and a conviction to do justice and act with decency always. https://t.co/saBRjU37EU

— Ken Levit (@kenlevit) July 6, 2022

According to 2 News Oklahoma, Greenwood Chamber of Commerce President Freeman Culver also confirmed the death of the couple. Since the Black Wall Street Chamber was created in 2018, Smith had been the president and Chief Executive Officer. She also founded Tulsa’s Juneteenth Festival reported Public Radio Tulsa.

“It’s going to take those individuals who worked diligently with her, her children, her family members, other community members that were as passionate about the community as she was to pull together and continue her legacy,” longtime friend and pastor Jamaal Dyer told KRMG. “Take those tools and deposits that she made into our lives and now make them come to fruition.”