On a tragic afternoon in Lexington Park, Maryland, the life of 19-year-old Joseph James Oakes was cut short. On January 12, 2022, deputies from the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene of a reported shooting in the area of Pegg Road and Westbury Boulevard. Upon arrival, they discovered two male victims with gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving efforts, Joseph James Oakes was pronounced deceased at the scene.
A second victim, a 17-year-old male, was transported to a trauma center for treatment.
The investigation that followed revealed that Oakes and five other teenagers were traveling in a vehicle near Pegg Road and Watt Drive when they were shot at in a drive-by attack. The vehicle they were in continued to Westbury Boulevard before crashing into a median. Investigators recovered seven 9mm shell casings from the scene on Pegg Road in the vicinity of Ronald Drive. An autopsy later confirmed that Oakes died from a gunshot wound to his upper body. Another victim in the car sustained a gunshot wound to his arm, while a third had a grazing bullet injury to his leg.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrests of several individuals. Two days after the shooting, on January 14, 2022, authorities arrested 23-year-old Latres Javontae Cockerham. Shortly after, on January 21, 2022, 23-year-old Keion Steven James Brooks was also taken into custody. The following month, on February 26, 2022, two more suspects were arrested: 21-year-old Jevontez Deqwon Davis and 23-year-old Thomas Darnell Evans. All four men faced numerous charges, including first and second-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, and various handgun offenses.
In May 2024, Latres Javontae Cockerham was convicted of the first-degree murder of Joseph James Oakes and the attempted first-degree murder of the five other teenagers in the vehicle. Later that year, in November 2024, a jury found Keion Steven James Brooks guilty of one count of first-degree murder for Oakes' death and five counts of attempted first-degree murder. In September 2025, Brooks was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 45 years.
