Richard Stinson Jr., a 34-year-old Black male, lived in Lawton, Oklahoma, where he poured his energy into music, steady work, and his young family, known to many by the nicknames “4 Bug” or “RichBoy.” Friends and relatives remembered him as outgoing and caring, sociable yet thoughtful, with a dependable streak that showed in the way he tried to provide for those around him.
He had roots that stretched beyond Lawton, having attended Lake Highland High in Dallas and MacArthur High School, and he held jobs that ranged from working in music to positions with companies such as Forever Lawn West in Texas and Hillary Communications in nearby Medicine Park. Those who posted tributes after his death spoke of a well-mannered, sweet person trying hard to be a productive citizen and a committed father to his child, Darijah.
On March 3, 2019, police were called to a residential area near Northwest 80th Street and Northwest Echo Road on the west side of Lawton after his wife reported that something was wrong. When officers arrived, they found Richard dead, and the circumstances were troubling enough that investigators immediately labeled the situation a “suspicious death” while they waited for the state Medical Examiner’s report. Weeks later, that report concluded that he had died from a gunshot wound, and the Lawton Police Department formally reclassified the case as a homicide, confirming that he had been killed rather than succumbing to an accident or natural causes.
In the days following his death, attention briefly focused on his wife when she was arrested on March 5, 2019, not in connection with the killing itself, but on an outstanding warrant related to a bogus check written earlier that January. She was released on a $50,000 bond, and police made it clear that she had not been charged in the homicide. Investigators continued to interview witnesses and assemble timelines, stressing that they were still working to piece together what had happened around the time Richard was shot. Despite that effort, law enforcement did not publicly name any suspects, and no one was reported as being charged with his murder. Later summaries of the case, which draw on the same small pool of news reports and obituaries, note the lack of public updates and the absence of identified suspects, underscoring how little has been shared about who might have been responsible.
While detectives tried to sort out the unanswered questions, Richard’s family and community turned their focus to honoring his life. Funeral services were held on March 9, 2019, at Howard-Harris Funeral Services in Lawton, with a visitation the evening before so that relatives, friends, and neighbors could gather, share memories, and offer condolences. He was laid to rest at Highland Cemetery in Lawton, in Comanche County, placing him among generations of local residents whose stories are etched into that ground. Online memorial pages filled with candles, comments, and brief notes paint a picture of a man whose life was woven into his community through work, school, and family, and whose death by gun violence left a lingering ache—made heavier by the reality that, in the public record, his killing remains without a named suspect or a clear path to justice.
