Teen third charged in shooting 8-year-old in December 2023

A 16-year-old Lawton teen was charged as an adult Friday for his alleged role in the Dec. 10, 2023, shooting of an 8-year-old.

James Oliver Stephens made his initial appearance Friday in Comanche County District Court where he was charged with a felony count of shooting with intent to kill, records indicate.

Stephens is accused of shooting at a car that driven by Nichole Groshong who was making a DoorDash delivery with her 8-year-old son, Zack, and 10-year-old song, Waylon, riding with her, along with her mother-in-law. While out, they were looking at Christmas lights in the 900 block of Southwest 35th Street.

Jullian Ramone Phillips, 31, of Lawton, has also been charged with shooting with intent to kill for the case and is being held on $1 million bond.

Phillips told police he saw the car stopped and went in reverse when he heard gun shots. According to the probable cause affidavit, he told police he grabbed an “AK type” rifle and fired rounds, striking the car and the 8-year-old in the head.

The gun was not recovered.

Stephens told police that on that night, he’d been walking to a friend’s house when he saw a gray Jeep with people he thought were his enemies, according to the probable cause affidavit. He told police he went to the home of his friend, Jeremiah Dearing’s mother’s home where he took a Glock .40 caliber handgun and then walked to Phillips’ home.

Once at Phillips, Stephens said, he saw the Jeep in the roadway with its window down and a light shining so he fired his gun at it, the affidavit states. He said he then jumped a fence into a back yard, put the gun in a tote and hid in a treehouse.

Dearing was charged Oct. 25 with felony counts of accessory to a shooting with intent to kill and child neglect, records indicate.

Investigators said Dearing spoke through video call with the jailed Phillips who is in a relationship with Dearing’s mother, the affidavit states.

During the video call, Dearing showed signs of affiliation with the 107 Hoover Criminals and held up a Draco AK 47 pistol that is believed to have been used in the shooting, according to the affidavit. Dearing is also considered a suspect in an August shooting where an automatic weapon was used, Lawton Police Deatective Hunter Phillips stated.

A search warrant conducted at Dearing’s home turned up the automatic weapon as well as a .40 caliber pistol, a 9mm pistol, and two AR style pistols with modifications with four of the five weapons chamber loaded and two were not on safe mode, the affidavit states. They were lying in a baby bouncer seat inside Dearing’s room in proximity to his 8-month-old child who was crawling on the ground, the affidavit states. Other gun accessories were also found in the room as well as a bag with 92 fentanyl pills and bags of marijuana. Phillips stated there were dogs who had not been left out often with feces and urine on the floor and an infestation of cockroaches in the home.

Held on $150,000 bond under Juvenile Affairs custody, Stephens returns to court at 4 p.m. Jan. 17 for his preliminary hearing, records indicate.