In the quiet city of Ponca City, Oklahoma, the life of 36-year-old Deron Deangelo Maxey was brought to a violent and tragic end on the evening of March 30, 2024. What began as a robbery escalated into a fatal encounter that would leave a community shaken and lead to the arrests of three individuals.
That Saturday night, shortly before 9:30 p.m., police were dispatched to an apartment in the 300 block of North Pine after reports of gunshots.
Inside, they discovered Deron Maxey suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. He was rushed to Integris Medical Center, but his injuries proved to be fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
Investigators quickly pieced together the events of that evening through witness statements. It is believed the incident started as a robbery. A woman who was in the apartment at the time told police that two teenagers kicked in the door and entered with firearms. One of the teens, who was wearing a mask, pointed a gun at her and warned her to be silent, while the other moved toward Maxey. She fled after hearing a gunshot. Another resident in the building reported hearing two males arguing with Maxey before the sound of the gunshot, which was forceful enough to send a bullet through his own ceiling.
A multi-agency law enforcement effort involving the Ponca City Police Department, the Kay County Sheriff's Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs led them to two suspects the following day. Eighteen-year-old Mitchell Reed Deroin and his 17-year-old brother, Darius Anthony Hernandez, were located and arrested in connection with the murder. Both were charged with felony murder. Hernandez, though a juvenile at the time, was charged as an adult. A third individual, 21-year-old Alexus Marie Shepherd, was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, and accessory after the fact. Shepherd, who was in a relationship with Hernandez, admitted to driving the two brothers to the apartment complex on the night of the shooting. She claimed to have dropped them off and left, only learning of the fatality later through social media. The following day, she gave the brothers a ride to the location where they were ultimately apprehended by law enforcement.
