John Wilson was 55 when he was killed on April 19, 2008, in the Wylam area of Birmingham, Alabama. He was found shot and down in a driveway along the 4900 block of 7th Avenue; investigators treated the death as a homicide from the outset. Police arrested his brother, Lee Roy Wilson, and booked the case as a murder, bringing a family relationship to the center of the investigation.

Later accounts describe the shooting as the climax of a heated argument that turned into a life-and-death confrontation. At trial Lee Roy Wilson said John had threatened him with a .22 rifle, that others tried to intervene, and that after the .22 was taken away Lee Roy grabbed an SKS and fired; John was shot four times in the chest.

Did anyone in the Wylam neighborhood or anyone who knew the Wilson family have details about what led to that argument or the events that night?