Jacksonville man gets three years in Tyler daiquiri shop shooting

TYLER – A Jacksonville man was sentenced to three years in prison for the lesser charge of aggravated assault after being arrested for murder in connection to the 2021 shooting at a Tyler daiquiri shop. According to our news partner KETK, Dycorrian Lofton, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Dec. 9. He turned himself in to Tyler police in July 2021 after a warrant for his arrest was issued. The shooting left one woman dead and two others injured. Police in 2021 said a fight in the parking lot started the shooting and that more than 50 shots were fired in total. Jaderick Willis, 23, of Jacksonville, was injured in the shooting and originally listed as a victim by police. He has since been charged with murder and was booked into Smith County Jail on July 2, 2021.

According to an arrest warrant, Lofton was identified by a witness at the scene who said they saw him take a gun and start shooting towards the front of what was then known as New Orleans Flavors Daiquiris. The witness said Lofton knew he did not hit the woman killed in the shooting. Officials said an innocent bystander who was there to celebrate her 46th birthday was fatally shot in the chest. Lofton turned himself in to the U.S. Marshal’s Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force and was held on a $750,000 bond.