Lawton Teen Sentenced to 28 Years for 2024 Murder on Northwest Smith Avenue

A Comanche County courtroom closed a chapter this week in a 2024 murder that has hung over Lawton for more than two years. Jaquis J. Lipscomb, now 17, was sentenced Wednesday to 28 years total: 25 for second-degree murder and three for a gang-related count, running consecutively. Judge Grant Sheperd followed the jury’s recommendation and merged a separate vehicle-related weapons count into the murder charge. Lipscomb, who was 14 when the killing happened, received credit for 873 days already served and was ordered to pay $4,310.50 in fines, fees, and court costs.

The case dates to the evening of June 4, 2024, when Sir Daniel Smith, 23, was shot multiple times in the 1100 block of Northwest Smith Avenue. A witness reported seeing Smith talking with people inside a gray SUV shortly before the gunfire. He died at a local hospital. Prosecutors said the teens involved were members of“The 5ive,”a Bloods subset, and that Smith was affiliated with the rival Hoover Crips. Co-defendant Dwayne Smith Jr., 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received life with 25 years to serve. Curtis Pelham Jr., 17, was convicted and sentenced to 30 years.

For military families at Fort Sill and longtime Lawton residents alike, the case raises hard questions about youth violence, gang recruitment, and how the justice system handles juveniles charged as adults. The legal process has reached its conclusion. What do you think the community should do to prevent the next case like this? Let us know.