De’Teaurean Johnson

Introduction

De’Teaurean Johnson is a senior linebacker for Southeastern Oklahoma State University who was charged with intoxication manslaughter after the one-vehicle rollover crash that killed his teammate, senior defensive end Dylan Sebock, on U.S. Highway 75 near Sherman, Texas, in the early hours of October 8, 2026. Police said Johnson, 23, was driving while intoxicated when the SUV he was driving rolled over, ejecting both occupants; Sebock, also 23, was found dead about 15 feet from the service road, and Johnson — who officers said fled on foot before being detained — was treated at a local hospital and then booked into the Grayson County Jail on the intoxication manslaughter charge.

Background Information

Johnson was a senior linebacker from Denison, Texas, who played high school football at Denison HS before joining the Savage Storm, where he wore number 10 and was listed at 6 feet, 213 pounds on the university’s 2026 roster. Weeks before the crash, he returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown in Southeastern’s 35-0 win over Southern Nazarene on September 26 — the kind of play that had made his final college season one he and his teammates were looking forward to. His teammate Sebock, a senior defensive end from Midwest City, Oklahoma, wore number 97, recorded 32 tackles, and earned Third Team All-Great American Conference honors in 2025.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not adjudicated. Johnson faces a single count of intoxication manslaughter under Texas Penal Code § 49.08, a second-degree felony. He has not been tried, and nothing here is a conviction. The account of the crash below is drawn from police statements and news reporting on the charge.

Sherman police officers responded at approximately 12:58 a.m. on October 8, 2026, to multiple 911 calls reporting a rollover crash in the 5700 block of North U.S. Highway 75 East Control Road, just off U.S. 75 in Grayson County. The two occupants had both been ejected from the vehicle. Officers found Sebock lying about 15 feet west of the service road, where he was pronounced dead at the scene. Johnson was found lying in the roadway; police said that when the first responding officer appeared, he stood up and attempted to flee on foot before being taken into custody. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries, and investigators from Sherman’s Critical Accident Investigation Team collected evidence that, police said, established he had been driving while intoxicated. After his release from the hospital, he was formally charged with intoxication manslaughter and booked into the Grayson County Jail.

The charge carries the legal theory that Johnson’s intoxicated driving caused Sebock’s death: under Texas Penal Code § 49.08, intoxication manslaughter applies when a person operates a motor vehicle while intoxicated and, by reason of that intoxication, causes the death of another by accident or mistake, and it is charged as a second-degree felony. Police told reporters that Johnson’s intoxicated driving contributed to his teammate’s death. Sebock’s family, in the statement released through their GoFundMe, framed the loss in terms of a decision rather than an accident: “No family should have to receive the news that someone they love isn’t coming home because another person made the decision to drink and drive.” No attorney for Johnson was identified in the coverage, and no public statement from him or on his behalf has been reported.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The case drew coverage across Oklahoma and North Texas within a day, with the unusual detail that both the accused and the victim were teammates on the same college roster — KTEN, KXII, Hoodline and Us Weekly all carried the crash-and-charge account, and the NY Post amplified it nationally. Southeastern Oklahoma State University released a statement Thursday: “Southeastern Oklahoma State University is aware of a serious vehicle accident involving two of our students. We are deeply saddened to confirm that one student has died as a result of the accident. The other student was hospitalized. Our hearts are with their families, friends, teammates, and all those affected by this tragic loss.” The university said it was providing support and resources to members of the campus community affected by the loss.

Sebock’s aunt, Franki Sebock, started a GoFundMe to pay for his funeral and memorial expenses, telling donors that “anyone who knew Dylan knows that football was only one part of who he was” and that the family had been looking forward to his final season, Senior Day, and graduation. His family’s statement said, “There is a hole in our family that can never be filled. No parent should ever have to bury their child.”

Current Status

Johnson was being held in the Grayson County Jail in Texas as of the October 9, 2026 reporting, charged with intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable, on conviction, by two to twenty years in prison. No plea, no court appearance date, and no attorney of record had been reported in the coverage. The Sherman Police Department’s investigation remained the basis of the charge, and no additional counts had been reported. As of the latest reporting Johnson had not publicly responded to the charge.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Johnson’s college career — a senior season in which he had just returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown — is over, replaced by a felony charge and a jail cell in the county where his teammate died. For Southeastern Oklahoma State, a Division II program, the case put a player death and a player charge inside the same locker room, with the university’s own statement confirming one student dead and the other hospitalized before the charge was announced. The crash also became part of Texas’s 2025 drunk-driving toll — the state recorded 698 deaths in crashes involving alcohol-involved drivers in 2024, the statistic Hoodline cited in framing the case. Sebock’s family, meanwhile, is raising funeral costs publicly, saying the loss came “because another person made the decision to drink and drive.”

Sources

NY Post, “College football player arrested after teammate killed in crash,” Oct. 9, 2026 — source
KTEN, “Southeastern student athlete killed in Sherman crash; teammate arrested,” Oct. 2026 — source
Hoodline, “Sherman TX Crash Kills SE Oklahoma Football Player,” Oct. 2026 — source
Us Weekly, “Southeastern Oklahoma State Football Player Dylan Sebock Dead in Car Crash,” Oct. 2026 — source
Southeastern Oklahoma State University Athletics, 2026 football roster (De’Teaurean Johnson, LB, Denison HS), accessed Oct. 9, 2026 — source