2 murder trials top docket’s second week

The second of the three-week Comanche County jury trial docket begins Monday and two murder cases top the docket.

Jurors will arrive at the Comanche County Courthouse to begin the selection process at 8 a.m.

All cases are subject to plea agreements or continuation.

Jurors will begin selection Monday in Comanche County District Judge Grant Sheperd’s court to decide the fate of a 29-year-old Lawton man accused of an April 2023 shooting death.

Fernando O’Neil Devin Daniels will begin trial for felony charges of first-degree murder, shooting into a dwelling, conspiracy to use a vehicle to fire a gun and possession of a firearm after former felony convictions, records indicate.

Daniels and Corey Dion Schexnayder Jr. are accused of shooting an apartment at the Timbers Apartments, 120 NW 44th, the morning of April 2, 2023 killing Shakirr Cogdell.

On Friday, Schexnayder was found guilty by a jury of felony counts of first-degree murder — deliberate intent, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, shooting into a dwelling, and conspiracy to commit felony discharging a firearm into a dwelling. Life without parole was their recommended sentence for the murder count.

Daniels has been held on $1 million bond since his initial court appearance on April 18, 2023.

On Tuesday, trial is scheduled to begin for a 51-year-old Lawton man accused of killing his girlfriend and setting fire to her house in April 2022.

Anthony DeWayne Boggan will appear in District Judge Jay Walker’s court to face felony counts of first-degree murder and first-degree arson.

Fifty-year-old Tonya Harris’s severely burned body was discovered unresponsive the night of April 8, 2022, inside a fully-engulfed house fire at 906½ SW Summit.

The State Medical Examiner determined she had no smoke in her lungs and it appeared she’d been beaten with a blunt object, according to the probable cause affidavit. Investigators learned she lived there and had a volatile relationship with her boyfriend, Boggan.

Neighbors told police the couple were constantly fighting and one witness said she saw Boggan hitting Harris while they walked down the street on April 3, 2022, the affidavit states. The witness remembered Harris calling for him to stop and screaming for help another time.

The witness said around 4 or 5 p.m. April 8, 2022, she heard the woman again screaming for help before seeing Boggan walk away. She later saw Boggan standing in another yard, staring at Harris’ home, the affidavit states, and said smoke was seen around 9 p.m. coming from the house. She banged on the door but there was no answer,. Another witness called 911.

Surveillance video from a nearby business showed Boggan walking away from the area of the fire minutes before the first 911 call was made, according to the affidavit.

Boggan has been held on $1 million bond since his initial court appearance on April 25, 2023.