Shakirr Shai-he Wanya Cogdell was a 26-year-old Black man from Lawton, Oklahoma whose life wove together a strong sense of faith, family, and responsibility. Born on December 28, 1996, in Honolulu, Hawaii, he was the youngest of two children and later made his home in southwest Oklahoma, graduating from Cache High School. Those who wrote about him after his death described a smart and educated young man with a quiet but evident devotion to God, someone known as a provider who loved without
condition, shared what he had, and encouraged others with jokes, compliments, and a “heart of gold.” In October 2022, a few months before his death, he made a public commitment to his faith, and his family later spoke of the legacy of love, peace, and trust he left behind.
On April 2, 2023, a night that began like any other at the apartment complex along Northwest 44th Street in Lawton turned violent. According to investigators, several people were involved in a fight in the parking lot outside the building where Shakirr lived. In the middle of that disturbance, he stepped out of his apartment to protect something as ordinary and personal as his car, warning the group to stay away from it. The confrontation in the lot broke apart and the fighters dispersed, leaving behind only the uneasy calm that follows an argument, but the danger had not passed.
Court documents later outlined how, instead of letting the conflict end there, two men allegedly chose to escalate it. A witness told police that after the initial fight, Corey Schexnayder Jr and another man, identified as Fernando Daniels, made plans to return to the complex. Investigators say the pair came back in a black truck, pulled up outside, and revved the engine, a taunting roar in the quiet hours before dawn. Moments later, shots were fired into Shakirr’s apartment. When the gunfire stopped, he had been fatally struck. Detectives would later point to cell phone records and data from Daniels’ GPS ankle monitor placing both men at the scene, and they reported that surveillance footage helped them track down the truck. A search of that vehicle allegedly turned up shell casings that matched those left on the ground outside the apartment, tying the physical evidence back to the ambush that took his life.
For months, the killing stood as another grim entry in the region’s tally of gun homicides, until investigators and prosecutors moved forward with new charges. In July 2023, local news reported that Schexnayder was formally charged with first-degree murder in connection with Shakirr’s death, in addition to related firearm allegations, and a judge set his bond at one million dollars while scheduling a court appearance in December. Daniels, already under supervision with an ankle monitor, was also arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the case. The narrative laid out by prosecutors portrays the shooting as a retaliatory act born from that brief parking-lot confrontation, transformed into a lethal return attack that reached through the walls of Shakirr’s home. Both men now face the prospect of standing trial over what happened that night, and they remain legally presumed innocent as the courts decide how much of that account can be proven.
While the legal process unfolds, the picture of who was lost remains fixed in the memories of those who knew him. Obituaries and memorial pages speak of a son, brother, uncle, and grandson whose kindness and generosity were felt across two states, with services held in Lawton and in North Carolina to honor his life. The words chosen for him—provider, confidant, selfless, trustworthy—paint a portrait of a young man whose everyday actions matched his professed beliefs, and whose faith was visible in how he treated people. For his family and community, the case is not just about charges, evidence logs, and court dates, but about the hole left by his absence: an empty seat at family gatherings, a voice missing from late-night conversations, and a future cut short by a burst of gunfire that began with a simple attempt to protect his own car outside his front door.
