Kentucky Supreme Court overturns conviction for man sentenced in Wolfe County shooting

WOLFE COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — The sentence for a man convicted of manslaughter in 2023 was overturned on Thursday.

According to court documents, on the weekend of June 16, 2020, Troy Dunkleberger had been in an argument with Jarron Slayback while on vacation at the Red River Gorge. Dunkleberger, his fiancée Samantha, and their three kids were on the trip with Slayback, his sister Megan Simpson, her husband Jordan, and their two children.

A Kentucky Supreme Court opinion shows that Slayback was shot eight times by Dunkleberger, who thought that Slayback was motioning toward a weapon in his pocket, which turned out to be a flashlight.

Dunkleberger was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On Thursday, the Kentucky Court reversed Dunkleberger’s conviction, agreeing with the argument that witness accounts of what led to the shooting differ vastly and that the evidence was insufficient to justify “initial aggressor instruction,” which the ruling hangs on.

“Yelling a name does not constitute physical force under the initial aggressor statute,” the Court wrote in its conclusion.

The court ruled that Dunkleberg should have only been convicted of second-degree manslaughter or reckless homicide. His case is reportedly eligible for retrial.