A 25-year-old Oklahoma mother was terminated from her job at 7-Eleven after shooting a man who allegedly attacked her during an overnight shift, despite authorities ruling her actions were legally justified.
Stephanie Dilyard was working alone at an Oklahoma City 7-Eleven location shortly after midnight on Nov. 14 when a customer attempted to purchase food items with a counterfeit $100 bill.
The mother of three said the situation escalated rapidly after she identified the bill as fake. The customer became threatening and erratic in his behavior.
“He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that’s when I tried to call the police,” Dilyard recalled.
According to Dilyard’s account, the man began throwing objects at her before rushing behind the counter. He then allegedly put his hands around her neck.
“I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space, and that’s when I pulled out my gun and I shot him,” she said.
The suspect, identified as 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson, fled the store after being shot in the stomach. He traveled several blocks before calling 911.
Thompson was taken into custody at a hospital and faces multiple charges including assault and battery, threatening acts of violence, attempting to pass counterfeit currency and violating parole on an outstanding felony warrant.
Investigators determined Dilyard’s actions were justified under Oklahoma’s stand-your-ground law. The law permits individuals to use deadly force when confronting an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.
Despite the legal determination in her favor, 7-Eleven terminated Dilyard’s employment on Nov. 17, just three days after the incident.
“They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy,” Dilyard said.
She had been working the overnight shift alone from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. for more than two years, according to KOKH.
The company’s policy prohibits employees from carrying their own firearms, which led to Dilyard’s termination despite the life-threatening circumstances she faced.
Dilyard still bore physical evidence of the attack when speaking to media, including a scratch on her neck and burn marks on her finger from discharging her weapon.
She told the outlet her primary concern during the attack was returning home to her children.
“This was a situation where I felt like I was put into a corner between choosing between my job, and my life, and I’m always going to choose my life because there’s people that depend on me. Just, I’m going, I’m going home, you know. I need to be here for my kids,” she said.
Dilyard expressed hope that her experience would lead to policy changes that better protect convenience store clerks, particularly women working alone during overnight hours.
“If I’ve known that there’s a potential that somebody is for real on taking my life away that I will do whatever it takes, and I hope that women see that, and they’ll do the same thing,” she said.
“You have a right to defend yourself.”
Following her termination, Dilyard launched a GoFundMe campaign to help support her family while she searches for new employment.
She stated she has no regrets about her decision to protect herself.
“We have no security, and we are not allowed to carry self defense weapons, including mace,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “That’s is why I decided to carry in the first place.”
“I never expected for me to be in this situation, but I did what I had to do to go home to my kids. I was a good employee, committed and determined, but in-between a rock and a hard place I had to make a quick decision—lose my life, or lose my job,” she added.
