John Wesley Sykes Jr. was a 22-year-old Memphis police officer killed late on New Year’s Eve, 1982, thirteen days after graduating from the police academy. While on patrol with his field training officer they spotted a car being driven erratically; the two occupants had just committed an armed robbery. A pursuit followed and the officers lost then regained sight of the vehicle as it hid in John F. Kennedy Park.

As the patrol car entered the park the suspect vehicle sped out and one occupant fired a single shot from a .357 magnum. The bullet struck Sykes in the neck, above his bulletproof vest. He was taken to a hospital and died about two hours later. Two days after the shooting two suspects were arrested; both were later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

If anyone has information about Sykes, the shooting, or who was involved, please come forward.