Man jailed as Lawton boy, 8, recovers from shooting

As an 8-year-old boy fights to recover from a gunshot wound to the head, the man police say pulled the trigger is in jail on $500,000 bond.

Jullian Ramone Phillips, 30, of Lawton, made his initial appearance Monday in Comanche County District Court where he received a felony charge of shooting with intent to kill, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to life in prison.

The incident happened Dec. 10 as Nichole Groshong said she was delivering a DoorDash delivery and had her 8-year-old son, Zack, and 10-year-old son, Waylon, riding with her, along with her mother-in-law. While out, she said they were looking at holiday lights in the 900 block of Southwest 35th Street.

“I was backing up to a house to show my kids the Christmas decorations, when someone started shooting at my car. I drove away as fast as I could. My kids said they were OK, but Waylon then informed me that Zack was bleeding,” she said on a post to a GoFundMe page to assist in Zack’s care. “My 8-year-old was shot in the head because we were looking at Christmas lights and now he is in ICU.”

Lawton police responded around 9 p.m. Dec. 10 to 910 SW 35th regarding a shots fired call. Groshong’s car was struck by gunfire and at this point, Zack was being rushed to Comanche County Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head. He’d been sitting in the rear passenger seat with his brother beside him. Zack was flown to OU Children’s Hospital for further treatment.

The people at 910 SW 35th Street were taken to the police station for questioning. Phillips spoke with Detective Robert Meurant, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Phillips said earlier he’d been outside with his girlfriend when an unknown man in a red car stopped and threatened her. They went inside and called 911.

Later in the evening, Phillips said, he was outside working on inflatable Christmas decorations when a teen boy told him there was an “AK type” rifle next to the tree that had been placed there, the affidavit states. He said when a gray car stopped in the roadway near his home and when the car went into reverse, he said he heard two gunshots and so he grabbed the rifle and fired “twice” at the back window of the car, according to Meurant. Phillips said when the rifle jammed, he dropped it and ran into the house.

Phillips told the detective he’d never seen a muzzle flash from the vehicle or any kind of threat, according to the affidavit. When told to stand up to be arrested, Meurant said, there was a brief struggle before being handcuffed.

Phillips received an 18-month deferred sentence in August 2020 in Comanche County for a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse and battery, records indicate.

The District Attorney’s office requested a $1 million bond due to the violent nature of the crime and his prior conviction.

Phillips returns to court at 3 p.m. Jan. 22, 2024, for his preliminary hearing conference.