TEXARKANA -- A Texarkana man was taken into custody Wednesday in a fatal nightclub shooting in August.
LaJason Jaquize Coakley, 23, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting of Montel Waller on Aug. 20 at the Paradise Club, according to the Texarkana Police Department. Waller, 25, survived on life support for weeks before he died Sept. 12.
Witnesses told police the animosity between Coakley and Ware stemmed from a Texas vs. Arkansas rivalry. Coakley and Ware are from Texarkana, Texas. Waller was from Texarkana, Ark.
Coakley surrendered to authorities Wednesday, Miller County Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black said. At the time of the shooting, Coakley was on parole from a 10-year prison sentence given to him June 16, 2014, for two counts of terroristic act.
At the time of sentencing in 2014, Coakley received credit for about a year he'd spent in the county jail. Coakley and co-defendant Tremayne Ware, 33, were each initially charged with nine counts of terroristic act and 10 counts of aggravated assault. Both pleaded guilty to two counts of terroristic act.
Coakley fired at least nine rounds from what witnesses described as a rifle or AK-47 at a group of people and a car near the intersection of 13th and Ash streets June 19, 2013, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Coakley was paroled about 14 months after he began serving time in an Arkansas prison on the 10-year sentence. As a parolee and convicted felon, Coakley was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Black said Coakley faces a murder charge in Miller County. If convicted, Coakley could receive 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
State Desk on 09/25/2016