On January 16, 2025, the body of 24-year-old Jaybriel Montgomery was discovered behind an abandoned home near Butler Avenue and Clark Avenue in Pocola, Oklahoma. Montgomery had sustained a fatal gunshot wound; the Pocola Police Department responded about 12:30 p.m. and asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to take the lead on what was treated as a homicide.

Investigators developed a person of interest and later identified 24-year-old Parker Maxwell Smith as a suspect. A first-degree murder warrant was issued by LeFlore County District Court, and on January 31, 2025, Smith was located and arrested by the Fort Smith Police Department and booked into the Sebastian County Detention Center pending extradition to LeFlore County.

There are still questions about the timeline and motive that led to Jaybriel Montgomery being at that location; anyone with information about his movements or who saw him in Pocola in mid-January is asked to come forward.