Marcus Lyman Whitfield was 27 and serving as a deputy with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office when he was killed on August 13, 1999, outside a Waffle House in Greenville, South Carolina. Deputies responded to a fight; while they were securing a handgun that had been dropped and restraining one person, others tried to flee in a vehicle. The car struck one deputy, and an occupant then opened fire. A bullet struck Deputy Whitfield at the base of his skull, killing him. A second deputy was shot in the shoulder but was able to return fire.

Authorities located and arrested the people in the vehicle later that day. Two 19-year-old suspects were charged with murder; one was later convicted of voluntary manslaughter and received a 25-year sentence, while charges against the other were dropped. A third person on probation at the time was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm.