Detective Rickie Allen Pearson Jr., 29, a member of the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Department and a certified BLET instructor at Lenoir Community College, was killed on April 8, 2009 while taking part in an operation to capture a suspect in a rural area of Craven County. Deputies had gone to a wooded path after reports of a man shooting and found the vehicle of a woman who had been murdered the previous day. The suspect was located in the woods and firing a rifle as officers closed in.

Deputies shot the suspect multiple times and he later died of his wounds. Pearson had served eight years with the department and is survived by his wife, Katherine Woodyard Pearson, and other family members.

Does anyone have memories of Detective Pearson or information about the incident that could add context to what happened that day?