An Easter Sunday morning phone call ended with a warning nobody acted on in time. By the time authorities reached a Shreveport, Louisiana home later that day, eight children lay dead inside.
The man accused of killing them had picked up the phone hours earlier to tell his mother and stepfather that his marriage was finished.
Shamar Elkins, 31, a former Army and National Guard serviceman, contacted his mother Mahelia Elkins and stepfather Marcus Jackson on the morning of April 20 to deliver the news that his wife of two years, Shaneiqua Pugh, had initiated divorce proceedings against him.
The couple was due to face one another in divorce court the very next day.
What began as a call about a failed marriage quickly turned darker. Elkins told the two that he was experiencing suicidal thoughts and described himself as overwhelmed by what he called “dark thoughts,” the New York Times reported.
Jackson pushed back. He told his stepson that hardship was something a man could get through if he held firm.
Elkins was unmoved. Before ending the call, he left his stepfather with a statement Jackson would later repeat to reporters: “Some people don’t come back from their demons.”
Those were among his last words before, authorities allege, he entered the Pugh family home and opened fire on eight children.
All eight were shot and killed. Pugh herself was struck multiple times — in the head and in the stomach — and rushed to a hospital in life-threatening condition. A woman identified by family members as Elkins’ girlfriend, Christina Snow, was also shot in the head and left severely wounded, according to KSLA.
The eight children killed were identified as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.
Seven of the eight were Elkins’ biological children. The eighth was their cousin — though investigators had not yet confirmed at the time of reporting which victim held that relation.
Elkins was no stranger to law enforcement. Court records show he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2016, and again in 2019 for illegal use of weapons.
That second conviction stemmed from a March 2019 incident in which Elkins drew a .9mm handgun from his waistband during a confrontation with another driver and fired five shots at the vehicle.
One of those rounds was later found on the grounds of a nearby school where children were actively playing at the time.
In the weeks before the shooting, Elkins had left a trail of posts on Facebook that pointed toward his deteriorating mental state and troubled home life. On April 9, he shared a message appealing to God to protect his mind from negativity.
The month prior, he posed a loaded question to fathers online, asking whether they would choose a different woman to have children with — while keeping those same children — if given the chance.
Elkins had a court date waiting for him Monday morning. He never showed.
