In the early hours of August 13, 2024, Daveon Smith was at a birthday party in Lawton, Oklahoma, when his life was cut short. A 24-year-old Black man known to some as “Dab,” he was a cherished father and son. Around 12:40 a.m., police responded to a call of shots fired in the unit block of Northwest 29th Street, just north of a Casey's convenience store. They found Smith in the front seat of a parked car with multiple gunshot wounds.
First responders rushed him to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries. His death was the city’s tenth homicide of the year.
The Lawton Police Department’s Detective Division launched an active investigation into the shooting. At the scene, they discovered eleven spent casings. A medical examiner later determined that five rounds were found inside Smith. As detectives worked to piece together the events of that morning, they called on the community to come forward with any information that might aid their case.
The investigation led authorities to identify three men in connection with the crime. Michael Ramone Epps was identified through home security surveillance video. A second man, Dejean Shannon of Kennedale, Texas, was placed at the scene of the crime through data from a court-ordered ankle monitor he was wearing. A third individual, Michael McKenzie, was also implicated.
Authorities filed charges against all three men. Epps and Shannon were both charged with first-degree murder with deliberate intent and using a vehicle to discharge a weapon. McKenzie faced a felony charge of accessory after the fact for allegedly trying to help the other two men avoid arrest. Michael Epps and Michael McKenzie later turned themselves in voluntarily to investigators without incident. Jail records confirmed that Dejean Shannon was also in police custody.
The case against Dejean Shannon proceeded to trial, where prosecutors attempted to link his actions and lyrics in a music video to the crime. In April 2026, a jury found Shannon not guilty of murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was, however, found guilty of using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and a separate gang-related offense. For these convictions, the jury recommended a sentence of 25 years for the weapons charge and five years for the gang-related offense.
