EDMOND, Okla. — An 18-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a weekend shooting that left one woman dead and 22 other people wounded during a nighttime party beside an Oklahoma lake, police said.
Jaylan A. Davis was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon in the wake of Sunday night’s shooting, which erupted after an apparent argument broke out among a large crowd gathered at Arcadia Lake in the north Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, its police chief said.
Edmond Police Chief J.D. Younger announced the arrest at at a news conference and said the initial charge against Davis was in the process of being upgraded to felony murder after an 18-year-old woman was fatally shot. Police identified the deceased woman as Avianna Smith-Gray.
Davis was being held in the Edmond jail on a $1-million bond and listed in jail records as an Oklahoma City resident.
There was no lawyer listed for Davis in court documents, and the Oklahoma County public defender’s office said Davis would not be assigned an attorney until the upgraded charges have been filed.
Detectives believe the incident began with an argument between two women attending the gathering and escalated into an altercation between rival gang members, the police chief said. Younger also said police think there is at least one more suspect.
In addition to the 18-year-old woman who died, authorities said, others suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds as dozens of shots were fired at the popular boating, fishing and swimming lake about 20 miles north of downtown Oklahoma City.
Six of the victims are juveniles, some as young as 15, Younger said.
Davis turned himself in Wednesday morning after police produced an arrest warrant, the chief said.
“We’re trying to find justice for 23 people that were shot, one that’s deceased and even the people that were involved. I think it’s important not to demonize or separate the parties here,” Younger said.
He added that multiple people discharged weapons and that more than 80 rounds were fired.
The woman who died, Smith-Gray, was a high school senior looking forward to walking the stage at graduation, her family said on a fundraising page for her funeral expenses. The family said she loved to dance, sing, do hair and much more. Her sisters described her as a loving, smart person who was good with kids and “so full of life.”
The party had been promoted across social media and drew a large crowd of mostly young adults from around the Oklahoma City area to a picnic pavilion beside the lake. The shooting occurred just as officers were responding to a noise complaint about the party, police have said.
Authorities noted that organizers hadn’t sought the necessary reservations for such an event.
Schoenbaum writes for the Associated Press.
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