Allen Ring

Do you know who murdered Allen?
Allen Chance Ring was a man who found joy in simple things, like waking up early to watch the sunrise. His family remembers the 28-year-old as a friendly person who cared deeply for others and would do anything he could to help someone. A member of the Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Allen worked in construction as a foreman and forklift operator. He had a creative side, enjoying listening to music and writing poetry. Family was paramount to Allen, a lifelong resident of Altus who was a husband and a father to five children. He loved cooking and having family and friends gather for barbecues.

The warmth of those gatherings was a world away from the cold violence that ended his life in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, August 5, 2008. Allen was at the Cooper Mill Apartments, located at 7100 S. Granite Avenue in Tulsa, reportedly walking around the complex looking for his lost cell phone. At approximately 4:35 a.m., the morning quiet was broken by the sound of gunfire coming from the apartment complex's pool area. When police responded, they found Allen suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including to his head and leg. He was rushed to a local hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead.

The Tulsa Police Department immediately began a homicide investigation. Detectives worked the scene for clues and sought witnesses who might have seen or heard something in the moments leading up to the shooting. Within a day, investigators publicly identified a person of interest they wanted to speak with, a man named Brian Powell. Police believed Powell might have crucial information about Allen’s death, and they asked for the public's help in locating him.

Despite this initial lead, the investigation proved difficult. Few witnesses came forward, and with little evidence to go on, the case eventually stalled. For years, there were no arrests and no answers for Allen's grieving family. The case grew cold, another name and face added to the list of unsolved homicides in Tulsa. The one person investigators had publicly named as being of interest, Brian Powell, was never charged in connection with the crime.

A new and final chapter in that lead came years later. On January 13, 2015, Brian Lee Powell Sr., then 27, was shot and killed during an attempted armed robbery of a convenience store in Tulsa. Powell, one of three masked men who entered the store with handguns, was shot by the store clerk and died at the scene. While his death closed a potential avenue of investigation for detectives, it brought no official resolution to Allen Ring's murder. Powell was never formally accused of the crime, and any information he might have had died with him.

As of 2024, the murder of Allen Ring remains an open and unsolved case with the Tulsa Police Department's Cold Case Unit. Detectives continue to seek information from anyone who might know what happened in the pool area of the Cooper Mill Apartments that August morning. Allen's family has been left with only questions and the memory of a man who loved his family, his friends, and the beauty of a new day's sunrise. Anyone with information regarding the homicide of Allen Ring is asked to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.