Jury convicts Lawton man in fentanyl overdose case

At 10:39 a.m. Friday, nine women and three men went into deliberations to determine if the 2022 fentanyl overdose death of Phillip D. Shaw was the result of murder or misadventure.

It was a “unique case,” according to District Attorney Kyle Cabelka during his closing argument. It was the first murder case he filed regarding a fentanyl overdose death.

Shortly before 1 p.m., they returned with guilty verdicts for Tyler Dominique Allen, 30, of Lawton, for felony counts of second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute.

The jury recommended Allen serve 15 years in prison for the murder count and four years for the possession charge.

Cabelka said he was “very happy about the verdict” on behalf of Shaw and his family but also for the community as a whole.

“I think this was the jury’s way of saying how terrible fentanyl is and if you distribute drugs to someone and they die, they should be held accountable,” he said.

Following a day of heavy drinking on June 10, 2022, Shaw and Allen’s girlfriend, Alexus Colbert went to Nicole “Lucky” Walton’s house where her son, Allen, was living. Allen, an admitted fentanyl addict, crushed and snorted a line of the potent synthetic opioid. Shaw, who was a drug user, asked for one and Allen handed him a DVD cover where Shaw chopped up a line for himself and snorted it.

In his closing arguments, Cabelka likened Allen’s role to leaving a loaded weapon on the table and it being used to cause a death.

Ten minutes later, as the three were leaving the home, Shaw was barely coherent, according to Walton’s testimony. With Allen driving his truck, Shaw slumped over in the back seat and began to snore. Allen drove the truck to Shaw’s house, backed it up in the driveway and locked Shaw inside with his keys before he and Colbert walked the two-and-a-half blocks back to Walton’s house.

Cabelka returned to Walton’s testimony where she remembered Allen returning home crying and unable to say more than something was wrong with Shaw. He told her Shaw was bleeding from the mouth. It concerned her enough to check on him twice, once that night and once the next day.

Defense attorney Clay Shepperson argued that, ultimately, it was Shaw’s decision to take the drug.

The district attorney argued that by providing the fatal dose, the jurors were tasked with determining Allen’s culpability. Allen had told investigators he had Narcan with him to counter the effects of an opioid overdose. He never used it, Cabelka said. He didn’t call 911. He left Shaw in the backseat of his truck, overdosed and alone to be found June 13, 2022, after an anonymous 911 call requesting a welfare check of the man.

“The facts are really simple in this case,” he said before asking the jury two questions.

“The question is, what are you going to do?”

“Is this murder?”

The jury agreed it was.