A Vian man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to a first-degree manslaughter charge in Sequoyah District Court Dec. 9. Johnny Ray Workman was arrested for second-degree murder on Oct. 1 for the shooting death of Lester Dalton Jr., of Vian.

Special District Judge Dennis Sprouse sentenced Workman, 48, to complete a Drug Offender Work Camp at the Bill Johnston Correctional Center in Alva. The camp is an intensive military style drug abuse program, Assistant District Attorney Kyle Waters explained.

Waters said if Workman is unsuccessful in the program then he would serve a minimum of eight and a half years in prison. If Workman were successful in the program then the remainder of the sentence would be suspended after completion of the program.

Workman was arrested and charged with the fatal shooting of Dalton, 47,on the evening of Oct. 1. Roger Fuller, investigator with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, said when the officers arrived they found Workman at his trailer home on Moonshine Road, northwest of Vian, and Dalton dead from three gunshot wounds.

Workman told the investigator that he shot at Dalton after Dalton came into his house and attacked him. Several pieces of furniture were knocked to the floor, which indicated a struggle had taken place. Workman was covered in blood and had an injury to his left eye.

Fuller stated in the report that a .22 caliber single action revolver with six spent rounds inside the cylinder of the gun was lying in the living room floor near a large amount of blood. Dalton managed to run 112 feet from Workman’s home before falling to the ground where the investigators discovered him. Workman did tell the investigators he did shoot Dalton two or more times.

A conviction on first-degree manslaughter is punishable by four years to life in prison according to Oklahoma Law.