Fallen heroes timeline: Remembering Charlotte police officers killed in the line of duty
The fatal shooting of four law enforcement officers, including a U.S. Marshal, during a standoff in an east Charlotte neighborhood on Monday marked the first time in 17 years that an officer had been killed in the line of duty in Mecklenburg County.
Through Charlotte Observer archives and records compiled by the Officer Down Memorial Page, nearly 30 law enforcement officers have died while on the job in Mecklenburg County over the last century.
Here are their names.
Feb. 16, 1924: John Fesperman
Charlotte Rural Police Officer John Fesperman, 21, was shot and killed at a liquor raid. Fesperman was shot and killed by a suspect he was placing into custody at the scene.
Fesperman had been appointed to the police force on the day he was killed. He was working in place of an officer who previously died in the line of duty.
Sept. 30, 1927: Joseph Orr and John Byers
Charlotte Police Chief of Detectives Joseph Orr, 48, and Det. John Byers, 32, died from injuries sustained in a car accident in China Grove, North Carolina.
The detectives were driving from Charlotte to High Point, responding to a mock riot during a statewide police training exercise when the accident occurred.
Byers passed away two days after the crash, and Orr succumbed to his injuries the day after the crash.
Byers had served with the agency for two and a half years. He was survived by his wife and five children.
Orr had served with the department for 15 years. He was survived by his wife and six children.
Jan. 1, 1927: Robert Reid
Charlotte Police Officer Robert Reid, 49, succumbed to injuries a day after being struck by a vehicle while directing traffic at the intersection of College Street and Trade Street.
Jan. 22, 1929: Harvey Edgar Correll
Charlotte Police Det. Harvey Correll, 40, was killed while he and another officer searched a home for stolen goods.
Correll had been with the agency for just under five years. He was survived by his wife and five children.
Aug. 30, 1929: William Rogers
Mecklenburg County Police Officer William Rogers, 33, was killed during a shootout while investigating a vehicle linked to a series of robberies.
Rogers had been with the department for six years.
Oct. 21, 1929: Thomas Jenkins
Charlotte Police Det. Thomas Jenkins, 48, was shot while making an arrest during a disturbance at the intersection of First and Davidson streets. During the arrest, one of the suspects grabbed an officer’s gun. The gun discharged during the struggle between the officer and the suspect, hitting Jenkins in the abdomen. The suspect was never caught.
Jenkins had been with the agency for five years and previously served as a deputy sheriff with the York County Sheriff’s Department for 15 years. He was survived by his wife, three sons, and a daughter.
June 9, 1930: Benjamin Frye
Charlotte Police Patrolman Benjamin Frye, 44, was shot and killed when he caught a burglar suspected of stealing chickens. The suspect opened fire on Frye, hitting him several times.
A man arrested in 1933 for an unrelated charge later confessed to the murder but was later acquitted.
April 17, 1936: Charles Nichols
Charlotte Police Officer Charles Nichols, 60, was killed by a driver while on patrol at the intersection of Tryon Street and Third Street. He had been with the department for 10 years.
Feb. 12, 1937: Rufus Biggers
Mecklenburg County Police Officer Rufus Biggers, 47, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while escorting a school bus. The driver was never found.
Jan. 1, 1938: John Rape
Huntersville Police Chief John Rape, 34, was shot and killed during an encounter with a man who was standing in front of a bank. The suspect was never found.
Rape was survived by his wife.
April 12, 1941: Charlie Baker
Charlie Baker, 36, suffered a fractured skull in an auto collision while on duty and died from his injuries five days later. He served as an officer for 10 years.
Dec. 31, 1942: Ralph White
Cornelius Police Patrolman Ralph White, 40, was killed after being electrocuted when he came into contact with a downed power line near the intersection of Catawba Avenue and Statesville Avenue
At the time, the duties of Cornelius police officers included restoring power to the town following storms.
White was survived by his wife and three children.
May 21, 1960: Johnny Annas
Charlotte Police Officer Johnny Annas, 25, was shot and killed while breaking up a street fight at South Church Street and West Summit Avenue. He was on the force for 18 months.
Mellot Faust was convicted in Annas’ death and sentenced to death in July 1960. Then-Gov. Terry Sanford commuted his sentence, and he was paroled on Oct. 16, 1981.
May 4, 1970: Lewis Robinson
Mecklenburg County Police Sgt. Lewis Robinson, 44, was fatally shot while attempting to serve a warrant with eight other officers. The suspect had been hiding under a tree when he fired at the officers.
Robinson was a U.S. Navy veteran and was survived by his wife and daughter.
Oct. 18, 1970: Ronnie McGraw
Mecklenburg County Police Officer Ronnie McGraw was shot in the back and chest while he and other officers raided a gambling house on East Fourth Street.
McGraw was a U.S. Air Force veteran who served with the Mecklenburg County Police Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and daughter.
Nov. 23, 1981: Edmond Cannon
Charlotte Police Officer Edmund Cannon, 26, was shot during a robbery at a convenience store in east Charlotte. He was on the force for four years.
Ameen Kareem Abdullah, John Martin and Charles Brown were convicted in Cannon’s death and sentenced to life in prison.
Cannon was the first Black police officer in Charlotte killed in the line of duty. He was survived by his son.
July 1, 1982: Ernest Coleman
Charlotte Police Officer Ernest Coleman, 31, was shot on Oaklawn Avenue while working as an off-duty security guard. He served as an officer in Charlotte for two and a half years.
Richard Watson was convicted in his death and sentenced to life in prison in March 1983.
Coleman was survived by his three children.
May 21, 1985: Edmund Thomas Jr.
Mecklenburg County Sherriff’s Deputy Edmund Thomas suffered a fatal heart attack during a foot pursuit of a suspect. He had gone to a trailer park to arrest the suspect on a probation violation. He was transported to Charlotte Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Thomas was a U.S. Navy veteran. He was survived by his son and daughter.
July 16, 1985: Timothy Whittington
Charlotte Police Officer Timothy Whittington, 26, was shot while searching for a break-in suspect after a stabbing on Tennyson Drive. He was a police officer for three years.
The suspect, William Camp, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for killing Whittington and stabbing an 82-year-old man during a robbery.
January 15, 1987: Robert Smith
Charlotte Police Officer Robert Smith, 27, was shot as he investigated reports of someone shooting into the Pawtuckett Condominiums near Little Rock Road. He was on the force for seven years at the time.
Lawrence Graham LeRoux was convicted in the killing and sentenced to life in prison plus 60 years in December 1987.
August 6, 1990: Terry Lyles
Charlotte Police Officer Terry Lyles, 32, was shot while taking a prisoner to jail after a family disturbance at a residence in north Charlotte. He served in law enforcement for two and a half years.
Police charged Calvin Christmas Cunningham, 43, of Charlotte, with murder. He was initially sentenced to death, then granted a new trial where he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Lyles was survived by his wife, parents, two brothers, two sisters, and a stepdaughter.
Nov. 22, 1991: Eugene Griffin
Charlotte Police Officer Euguene Griffin, 42, was struck in the chest at close range by a shotgun blast at a motel where he moonlighted as a security guard. He died shortly afterward on the operating table at Carolinas Medical Center.
Three 17-year-olds, Allen Lorenzo Gaines, Mustafa Coleman, and Brian Cornelius Harris, were charged with first-degree murder in his death. Two of the suspects were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole, while the third pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Griffin had served with the Charlotte Police Department for 21 years. He was survived by his wife, two children, parents and brother.
Oct. 6, 1993: Anthony Nobles and John Burnette
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers Anthony Nobles, 26, and John Burnette, 27, were shot in the head as they chased two suspects through the woods behind a public housing complex in west Charlotte. The incident marked the first time a pair of CMPD officers were killed at the same time.
Nobles had been employed with CMPD for four years and was survived by his parents and two brothers.
Burnette served in the department for two and a half years and was survived by his mother, stepfather, and sister.
The wounded pair were rushed to Carolinas Medical Center by backup officers who found them in the woods. They were pronounced dead.
The city of Charlotte named a park and two streets in honor of the two officers.
Sept. 29, 1998: Anthony Stancil
Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Stancil, 35, was killed working as an off-duty security guard when he tried to stop a suspected shoplifter in a grocery store parking lot in northeast Charlotte.
The suspect, Samuel Emmanuel Mahatha, 23, was charged with murder.
Stancil was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and served with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office for eight years. He was survived at the time by his expecting wife and two children.
July 17, 2002: Anthony Futrell
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Sgt. Anthony Futrell and two other officers were killed in a plane crash while searching for marijuana crops in eastern North Carolina.
Approximately 90 minutes into the second flight of the day, the plane experienced problems and crashed. Witnesses saw the plane nose dive into the ground.
Futrell was with CMPD for 15 years and was survived by his wife and two children.
April 1, 2007: Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers Sean Clark, 34, and Jeff Shelton, 35, were shot and killed after responding to a disturbance call at Timber Ridge apartments in northeast Charlotte.
The shooter, Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery, 25, of Charlotte, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Clark was a U.S. Air Force veteran who served with CMPD for a year. He was survived by his pregnant wife and 2-year-old son.
Shelton served in the department for six years and was survived by his wife.
Feb. 25, 2011: Fred Thornton
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Fred Thornton, 50, was only a few months from retirement when a flash-bang device went off as he was securing his SWAT gear at his Mint Hill home.
He underwent emergency surgery but later died as a result of his injuries.
Thornton was the longest-tenured officer on the department’s SWAT team, with 23 years of service. He left behind his wife, two daughters and two sons.
Dec. 22, 2021: Mia Goodwin
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Mia Goodwin was killed when a tractor-trailer struck her patrol car on I-85 near W.T. Harris Boulevard. She was the first woman on the force killed in the line of duty.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Daniel Morgan, 52, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 16 to 29 months in prison.
Goodwin was a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for more than six years. She is survived by her husband and three children.
In 2023, the W.T. Harris Boulevard Bridge, where she was killed, was renamed the Officer Mia Goodwin Bridge in her honor.
