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A 25-year-old Oklahoma 7-Eleven clerk, Stephanie Dilyard, found herself in the fight of her life just before midnight Thursday. Then, she found herself out of a job for surviving it.
Dilyard was working the overnight shift alone. It’s something she’d done for more than two years, when a man tried to use a counterfeit $100 bill to buy burritos, beef sticks, and ice cream.
When she refused the fake bill, things turned violent fast.
“He threatened me and said that he was going to slice my head off,” Dilyard told FOX 25. She tried to call police, but the situation exploded.
“He started throwing things at me… he came behind the counter. I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck and pushed me out of the counter space,” she explained. That’s when I pulled out my gun and I shot him.”
The suspect, 59-year-old Kenneth Thompson, fled the store, called 911 from a nearby street, and was later arrested at the hospital.
He now faces charges including assault and battery, threatening acts of violence, attempting to pass a fake bill, and a felony warrant for violating parole.
Police confirmed Dilyard’s use of force is protected under Oklahoma self-defense law.
But instead of support from her employer, Dilyard got a termination notice. She says 7-Eleven corporate called Monday morning and informed her she was being fired for “a violation of policy.”
Namely, using her own gun to stay alive.
Even days later, she still had a scratch on her neck and burns on her finger from firing the pistol.
She said she had no choice: “This was a situation where I felt like I was put in a corner between choosing between my job and my life, and I’m always going to choose my life… I need to be here for my kids.”
Dilyard hopes her experience serves as a warning, especially for women working alone at night.
“If I know that somebody could be for real in taking my life away, I will do whatever it takes… You have the right to defend yourself,” she said.
FOX 25 reports they have reached out to 7-Eleven for comment but have not yet received a response.
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