The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday tossed out a local murder conviction and changed the jurisdictional landscape of Seminole County.

The court vacated a total of five murder convictions Thursday, including that of Kadetrix Grayson, who was found guilty of a 2015 double homicide in Seminole. In doing so, the court affirmed that Congress never formally disestablished the Seminole Nation reservation, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the state lacks authority to prosecute crimes committed by or against Native Americans on tribal land. The City of Seminole lies within the historical boundaries of the Seminole Nation reservation.

Grayson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm after former felony conviction in the deaths of 26-yearold Joseph Bounds and 30-year-old Summer Gokey.

On March 20, 2015, Bounds and Gokey were found dead inside of an SUV behind the Seminole Walmart. Grayson was arrested in October 2015 and convicted by a jury in September of 2018. He filed a notice of appeal in December 2018.

Seminole Nation Chief Gregory Chilcoat issued a statement Thursday afternoon, shortly after the court rendered its decision.

“The Seminole Nation is pleased with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decision reaffirming the existence of the Seminole Nation’s reservation boundaries, which have never been disestablished by Congress,” Chilcoat said.

The court also affirmed on Thursday that the Choctaw reservation still exists, based on the case of Devin Warren Sizemore, a Choc taw Nation citizen convicted in the drowning death of his 21-month-old daughter near Krebs in 2016. His conviction was also tossed out on Thursday.

The other first-degree murder cases vacated Thursday involved killings inside the boundaries of the Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) reservations, which according to court rulings, had never been disestablished.

The latest decision, combined with previous rulings about the Chickasaw, Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) reservations, means that state prosecutors no longer have criminal jurisdiction over crimes involving Native Americans in nearly all of eastern Oklahoma.

Federal prosecutors have been flooded with overturned criminal convictions based on McGirt, as they must now retry those cases in federal court. Those awaiting retrial will remain in custody pending federal proceedings.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter is calling upon Congress to pass legislation allowing the state and tribes to reach compact agreements on criminal jurisdiction.

“We need it for Oklahomans, both Native American and non-Native American,” Hunter said in a statement. “Victims of crimes continue to pay the price every day because of the ramifications of the McGirt decision. State law enforcement officials continue to express frustration about their inability to hold criminals accountable. We are facing a situation that will not resolve itself.”