Eric Lynn Thompson, a 46-year-old Black man, was shot multiple times in Monticello, Arkansas, on the night of September 14, 2015. The shooting grew out of a dispute reportedly begun by a text message and left another man, Myron Briggs, wounded as well.

Authorities arrested 40-year-old Myron Briggs and charged him with first-degree murder and unlawfully possessing a firearm. The case went to trial in June 2016. Prosecutors described a confrontation that escalated to gunfire and noted both men had used drugs; the defense argued Briggs shot in self-defense after Thompson allegedly entered Briggs’s home aggressively and fired first. Briggs testified he returned fire only after being struck in the leg and neck.

A jury acquitted Briggs of first-degree murder but convicted him on the firearm possession charge, resulting in a 10-year sentence on that count.