Lawton homicide victim identified

The family of a Lawton man shot and killed Tuesday night were looking for answers on Wednesday.

Sir Daniel Smith, 23, was shot and killed around 7 p.m. in the 1100 block of Northwest Smith Avenue, according to Sgt. Christopher Blessing, Lawton Police Department information officer.

A witness told The Constitution that Smith was talking with someone inside a gray van or SUV moments before the sound of several gunshots were heard. A neighbor’s security camera captured video of the vehicle driving away, according to the witness.

Police arrived and found Smith lying on the ground and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, Blessing said. The wounded man was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Blessing had no further information available.

Stevie Burris, Smith’s stepfather for the past 21 years, was parked across the street from where Smith was shot. He said the young man was not violent. He was small in stature and wouldn’t hurt anybody, he said. He couldn’t understand why someone would want to kill him.

“I want answers,” he said, “his mother, his sister want answers.”

Burris said Smith had been staying with different friends and didn’t have a set home at the time.

“He was still trying to find himself,” he said.

Burris remembered the young club footed boy he’d helped put into shoes and who he helped grow into a man. He still remembers the innocent face of a son.

“We called him Boobie,” he said.

Burris noted that Smith’s Facebook page offered insights into potential people he may have had “beef” with. He said he hoped it wasn’t true a potential motive may have been about the young man and another person having a misunderstanding about a cellphone. That’s not worth a life, he said. But he doesn’t know if that’s a red herring, either.

“I know there’s something there,” he said, “but I don’t know that’s what took place last night. I just want to know what happened.

Smith’s death is the city’s seventh by homicide, according to Constitution records.

If you have information about the incident, call the Lawton Police Department at 580-581-3272, or Crime Stoppers of Southwest Oklahoma at 580-355-4636.