John Dawkins, 43, died after an altercation in Oklahoma City on April 13, 2008. During the confrontation he armed himself with a modified sawed-off shotgun and later maintained he acted in self-defense.

The case turned on Oklahoma’s stand your ground law and the legality of Dawkins’s weapon. Prosecutors argued that possession of an unlawfully altered firearm was a criminal act that disqualified him from claiming the statute’s protections. The court agreed, ruling the self-defense statute did not apply to someone engaged in illegal activity at the time of the incident. That legal finding prompted debate in Oklahoma about the scope of the state’s self-defense law. No information about other suspects or arrests has been provided.

If anyone knew John Dawkins or has information about the April 13, 2008 altercation, please share what is known.