A former Army National Guardsman who executed his seven children and nephew went on the killing spree just weeks after his wife accused him of cheating, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal.
Shamar Elkins, 31, opened fire on his family after he and his wife, Shaneiqua Pugh, 34, got into in a fight at their shared home in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday.
The couple lived in the residence with their four daughters, Pugh’s sister Keosha, 33, her partner Troy Brown, and their two children.
The pair were arguing because Pugh planned to divorce Elkins after learning of his alleged infidelity with another woman weeks prior, Brown and his cousin Crystal Brown-Page told the Daily Mail.
Brown, 46, even claimed to the Daily Mail that Elkins was seeing sex workers up until a month before his killer rampage.
Elkins – who reportedly struggled with poor mental health and suicidal ideation – allegedly snapped and killed his their four daughters; Jayla Elkins, 3, Shayla Elkins, 5, Kayla Pugh, 6 and Layla Pugh, 7, in an ‘execution style’ rampage at 6am.
He also gunned down the three children he fathered with a woman called Christina Snow, 31; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and five-year-old Braylon Snow.
Elkins’ final child victim was Keosha and Brown’s son, Markaydon Pugh, 10, who had tragically tried to escape off the small roof of the property.
Shamar Elkins, with his seven children on Easter, executed his children during a shooting rampage early Sunday morning
He opened fire after getting in a fight with his wife Shaneiqua Pugh, seen with their daughters Kayla (left) and Layla (right) in 2019
The killer then turned the gun on Pugh, shooting her as many as nine times after having already shot Snow in a separate property nearby, Crystal told the Daily Mail.
Brown, a parking lot cleaner, was working nights at the time of the attack, but said his wife managed to jump off a small roof with their daughter, Mar’Kianna, 12.
Keosha is currently undergoing surgery on her hip and pelvis, which she fractured in leaping for her life off the roof, he told the Daily Mail.
Both Pugh and Snow are expected to recover from their injuries, Crystal said.
Haunting Daily Mail photographs show the family home studded with at least six bullet holes, with a sea of floral tributes and balloons laid on the front lawn.
Blood seen on the front door of the property had since been cleaned.
Crystal said that Pugh had previously told her she wanted to file for divorce over allegations of infidelity – with the pair due in court today about their estrangement.
It is unclear if Pugh officially filed for divorce. Caddo Parish Clerk Mike Spence said there were no records of any divorce filings between Shaniqua and Elkins.
Elkins, 31, opened fire on his family at their shared home in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday around 6am. A sea of floral tributes and balloons has laid on the front lawn
Haunting Daily Mail photographs show the family home studded with at least six bullet holes
The couple had been together for 10 years and married on April 9, 2024, according to a poignant Facebook post by Pugh, marking their first wedding anniversary.
Brown told the Daily Mail that weeks before Elkins’ rampage, Christina Snow told Pugh that her husband had been unfaithful to her.
Brown said he and Elkins were close and claimed that Elkins had admitted to having physical affairs with multiple women.
‘When it was me and him, we talk all the time.
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‘There’s certain conversations we have. He [said] he went down the street and…he went down there with the intent to do some things,’ in an apparent reference to extra-marital sex.
But this wasn’t the first time Pugh had suffered Elkins’ alleged indiscretions, Troy said, claiming that Elkins had been paying prostitutes for sex until about a month before his rampage.
Brown added: ‘She [Shaneiqua] was putting up with a lot.
‘He had a fetish of going out and paying for sexual intercourse.’
Shaneiqua Pugh, right, and Shamar Elkins had been together for 10 years and married on April 9, 2024. They were fighting about his alleged infidelity on the day of the murders
A school bus driver is seen bringing balloons and flowers to the small shrine at the property
He said Pugh got fed up of her husband’s indiscretions and he promised to quit his playing away in a last ditch bid to save his marriage, Brown said.
But that attempt blew up when one woman told Pugh of her affair with Elkins, Crystal said.
Despite his poor track record with women, Elkins’ ex Christina Snow managed to rebuild a relationship with him during his marriage to Pugh.
The pair previously had a turbulent relationship.
In 2016, Snow sued Elkins for child support for their oldest child, Sariahh, after he initially questioned her paternity, court records obtained by the Daily Mail reveal.
Snow, who said in the court documents how she was in a sexual relationship with Elkins from 2012 to 2015, accused him of neglecting to provide for Sariahh, who a paternity test later confirmed was his child.
But Elkins hit back and accused Snow of keeping him from his child and ‘being uncivilized’ when she came round to his house.
He even claimed police were called after she allegedly ran his girlfriend over with her car ‘with our child in the car’.
Shamar Elkins (pictured center, surrounded by children) was fatally shot by police during a vehicle chase after he carried the attack
Famber members claim Elkins, seen with his wife Shaneiqua Pugh, had a history of infidelity
Elkins claimed all he wanted was time with his child without Snow being involved.
The pair were later handed joint custody of their daughter, who resided with her mother but would see her father regularly and on allocated holidays.
Elkins was fatally shot by police during a vehicle chase after he carried the attack, which is one of the deadliest family massacres in American history.
Brown told the Daily Mail he has no idea why Elkins turned on Keosha and their children, saying he and Elkins previously had a good relationship.
‘We would sit down, talk, play dominoes, play the game, everything.
‘Only thing I can think of is his plan was killing everybody in the house.’
Brown recounted the agonizing final moments of his son, who was cruelly shot by Elkins as he tried to escape with his mother and sister.
‘[Keosha] and [Mar’Kianna] jumped off the roof. They were trying to get my son, but at the point of them going trying to get my son, he shot my son.’
Troy Brown broke down in tears as he spoke to the Daily Mail, saying he has no idea why Elkins turned on his wife Keosha and their children
Brown broke down as he added: ‘My son died on the roof in the sun and the heat.’
He said his wife and daughter avoided being shot, but he fears his little girl could bear mental scars from the harrowing ordeal.
‘My daughter was covered in my son’s blood. She had to watch her little brother die,’ he said.
Keosha is undergoing surgery on her hip and pelvis, which she fractured in leaping off the roof, Brown said. Mar’Kianna is also in hospital with ‘scrapes and bruises’ – but thankfully no broken bones – is being monitored by medics, her father said.
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
Elkins previously served in the Louisiana Army National Guard from August 2013 to August 2020 as a Signal Support System Specialist and a Fire Support Specialist.
He also has a criminal history.
He was previously arrested in 2019, after cops said he fired several shots near a high school in Shreveport, according to court records obtained by the Daily Mail.
The shooting was spread across several locations with police saying it would take time to investigate
People attend a candlelight vigil in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday night after eight children were killed and two women were wounded during a domestic violence incident
Elkins was charged with illegal use of weapons and dangerous instrumentalities and carrying a firearm or dangerous weapon near a school.
He served 30 days in the parish jail and was placed on supervised release for 18 months.
Brown said he didn’t even know the convicted felon had a weapon in the house.
‘I didn’t even know he had a gun in the home.
‘If I would have known he had a gun, I would have removed it myself, because I had my babies. ‘My babies were precious. They were precious.’
