Every May, during National Police Week, Tipton County pauses to remember those who gave their lives in service to this community. Eight law enforcement officers — spanning more than a century of duty — are honored at the annual Peace Officers Memorial Service hosted by the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office.

What follows is an account of each officer, drawn from public records, the Officer Down Memorial Page, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, interviews with surviving families, and historical research.

Deputy Charles M. Webb

End of Watch: Oct. 17, 1907  |  Tipton County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy Charles Monroe “Charlie” Webb was 35 years old when he was shot and killed while attempting to serve a court order near Atoka. He and fellow Deputy Louis Ogilvie had been dispatched to serve a writ of lunacy – a legal order issued by Tipton County Judge S.E. Stephenson directing that a person be transported to a psychiatric facility – against John P. Strong, who had previously escaped from the Western State Hospital in Bolivar.

As the two deputies approached the man’s farm, the suspect retreated to his bedroom, where he had concealed a double-barrel shotgun. Ogilvie forced the door open but was immediately wounded by the first shot. Webb, standing on the stairs, was struck in the shoulder and chest by the second. He walked to the front yard, where he collapsed and died. He was buried at Munford Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and child.

Deputy David W. Stewart

End of Watch: May 2, 1915  |  Tipton County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy David Stewart was shot and killed while attempting to serve a warrant on Island 37, a sandbar community in the Mississippi River that sat within Tipton County’s jurisdiction. The island housed numerous illegal establishments – known at the time as blind tigers, a term for unlicensed saloons – as well as gambling houses.

Stewart, who lived on the island, had been deputized specifically to serve warrants to the operators of these establishments. He was deaf. Bob Kenton, one of the owners, approached from behind and shot him in the back of the head in retaliation for his work as a deputy.

Kenton fled across the state line, which is a narrow slough, to Arkansas where he was apprehended then released on a mere $1,500 bond. That outraged Arkansas law enforcement, which had also lost officers trying to police the island and suspected some Tennessee officials were in the pocket of the island’s criminal kingpin, a 35-year-old named Andy Crum, who owned more than 400 acres of land on the “island.”

This incident sparked a raid on the island by Arkansas officials, where a mob killed the sheriff, and led to a years-long court battle over which state had jurisdiction over the islands.

Deputy Chester A. Doyle

End of Watch: July 18, 1937  |  Tipton County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy Chester Doyle, 33, was shot twice in the back and killed during a raid on an illegal craps game operating in the back room of a Mason café. The Atlanta Daily World said Gooden Doyle was shot after slapping the girlfriend of Albert Gooden, who was the brother of the café’s owner. Doyle managed to return fire, killing 24-year-old Jack Bolton, and wounding 25-year-old Oliver Twist before he fell.

Doyle died approximately 30 minutes after being shot. Gooden, 35, was arrested and charged with the murder.

A dark chapter in Tipton County history followed.

Reportedly fearing mob violence, Sheriff W.J. Vaughan transferred Gooden to a Memphis jail for safekeeping. A month later, as the sheriff and his businessman passenger transported Gooden back to Tipton County for trial, six armed men were said to have forced the official vehicle off the road about eight miles from Covington, seized Gooden and took him to a creek bed. Hours later, the suspect’s body was found face down in the water, bound with rope and riddled with more than three dozen bullets. News of the lynching was printed in papers all over the United States.

Deputy Doyle had served with the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office for nine years.

Deputy Michael Wilson Erwin

End of Watch: Oct. 31, 1975  |  Tipton County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy Michael Erwin, 26, was struck and killed by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 51 just south of Atoka while on duty. He is survived by his wife, daughter, parents, two sisters, and his grandmother.

A one-mile stretch of the highway is named in his honor.

Deputy Richard Lawrence Rose

End of Watch: Nov. 29, 1988  |  Tipton County Sheriff’s Office

Narcotics investigator Deputy Richard Rose was 22 years old when he was shot in the head by his partner, Jimmy Hicks, while on duty.

It was initially reported that Rose killed himself while cleaning a pistol.

Rose’s brother, Michael, said his brother was on a phone call at the time he was killed. The woman on the other end reportedly heard Rose warn someone over the phone to “put that gun down” moments before the shot was fired.

He was reportedly set to meet with federal investigators the following day. Court records show that Hicks and then sheriff Wayne Baskin were both under federal investigation at the time, stemming from concerns about the agency’s firearm training practices.

Baskin was convicted on federal extortion and mail fraud charges and served three years in federal prison. The investigation focused on allegations that Baskin and others used their positions for personal gain.

Hicks was later found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

No public evidence has proven he was intentionally killed to prevent him from cooperating, but the circumstances, combined with Baskin’s later conviction, have made the case one of the most controversial chapters in Tipton County law enforcement history.

Rose was survived by his parents, brother, and an unborn daughter.

Sgt. John Wayne DeLashmit

End of Watch: Nov. 4, 1991  |  Covington Police Department

Sergeant John DeLashmit had served with the Covington Police Department for 23 years when he suffered a fatal heart attack during a training session. He had just completed the firearms portion of the department’s tactical unit training and had begun a jogging segment when he collapsed on the track.

He was survived by his wife.

Sgt. Charles Lanny Bridges

End of Watch: Aug. 14, 1997  |  Covington Police Department

Sergeant Charles “Lanny” Bridges, 50, was a 25-year veteran of the Covington Police Department when he and a partner responded to a call reporting a possible suicide at a home on South Maple Street. The officers knocked on the door, and shots were fired from a window. Bridges was struck and fatally wounded. His partner, John Sutphin, was also shot but survived.

A passerby and her dog were wounded during the standoff that followed. The suspect barricaded himself inside the home for several hours before taking his own life.

Bridges was the brother of J.T. “Pancho” Chumley, who served as Tipton County Sheriff from 2006-2021. Chumley was on duty the day his brother was murdered.

Bridges was survived by his mother, siblings, and wife.

Trooper Calvin Wayne Jenks

End of Watch: Jan. 6, 2007  |  Tennessee Highway Patrol

Trooper Calvin Jenks, 24, was conducting a traffic stop near the intersection of Tennessee Highways 14 and 54 in Tipton County when the call turned deadly. During the stop, Jenks detected the odor of marijuana. The driver told him drugs were in the center console. When Jenks asked the passenger whether he was also in possession of drugs, the passenger drew a .25-caliber handgun and fired, striking Jenks once in the head and once in the body.

Both men fled the scene. They were apprehended approximately 13 hours later in Nashville, more than 200 miles away. Jenks’ body was discovered beside his patrol car by two hunters in the area. His in-car camera recorded the entire incident.

In December 2007, Alejandro Guana, 17, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. A second suspect, Orlando Garcia, 19, was convicted of facilitation of first-degree murder in state court and separately received a federal life sentence for his role.

Trooper Jenks had served with the Tennessee Highway Patrol for nearly three years. He was named Trooper of the Year for the Memphis district posthumously. A section of State Route 50 in Maury County, where Jenks grew up, was dedicated in his honor in August 2007.

He is survived by a wife, parents, four brothers, a sister, grandparents and a large extended family.

Gauna is serving a life sentence in Tennessee.

In 2009, Garcia was charged in federal court with carrying a firearm during drug trafficking and aiding and abetting the killing of a law enforcement officer. He completed his sentence in Tennessee in 2020 and is currently in federal custody in Texas.

Tipton County’s fallen officers are honored during the annual Peace Officers Memorial. This year the event took place on Friday, May 8.