Julian Duman was 21 when he was shot dead on July 6, 2017, at a residence on Lake Shore Drive East in Dunkirk, New York. Officers arriving around 10 p.m. found him unresponsive in the yard; he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The fatal wound was caused by a single gunshot.

Investigators arrested Duman’s girlfriend, 28-year-old Rebecca Ruiz, after officers reported hearing her say she had shot someone and that she hadn’t known it was Julian. Ruiz told police she thought her estranged, abusive husband Walter Waldo Duprey was at the door and, fearing for her safety, fired a .22-caliber weapon through the door; Duman was on the other side. Ruiz was charged with second-degree murder; a grand jury later added second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence. At trial the defense said the shooting was an accidental response to fear, while the prosecution said it was intentional. A jury found Ruiz not guilty of murder and manslaughter but convicted her of weapon possession and she received a six-year sentence; in August 2021 an appellate court overturned that conviction and ordered a new trial on the weapon charge, ruling the jury should have been instructed on temporary and lawful possession.