Deputy Sheriff Charles B. Lacey, about 35, was shot on February 18, 1981, in Austin, Texas, while responding to a report of a man assaulting a woman in a car. A U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran who had served with the Austin Police Department before joining the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Lacey stopped the suspect about one mile from the initial scene. The suspect shot Lacey in the throat as he approached the vehicle, a wound that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Deputy Lacey later died of complications from that injury on November 5, 1982. The same suspect had earlier murdered two other people that day and was convicted of attempted capital murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. The woman being assaulted escaped after the suspect stopped for gas later that day.

Those who knew him remembered Lacey as a dedicated, compassionate officer. Does anyone have memories of Deputy Lacey or information about his service in the community?