On Christmas night 2018 a dispute at a residence on Cog Lane in Campbell County, Virginia, ended with 46-year-old Carlton Stratton shot and killed after a physical altercation. The shooting occurred during what had been a day of holiday celebration for Stratton and his family.

Authorities identified 40-year-old Michael Langford as a suspect; he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Langford’s defense at trial was that he acted in self-defense. The jury acquitted him of the firearm charge and convicted him of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, with a recommended sentence of five years. It was disclosed at trial that Langford previously had a voluntary manslaughter conviction from 2003. Stratton’s sister said the two men were acquainted but not closely connected and suggested her brother may have been mistaken for someone else.

Did anyone in the area around Cog Lane that night see or hear anything that could clarify what happened?