Timothy Lowe Hearn, 28, was killed in the line of duty in Houston on June 8, 1978. A narcotics officer with the Houston Police Department for three and a half years, Hearn and his partner, Officer M.K. Jordan, were conducting surveillance at the Early Roberts Restaurant when they arrested a suspect named Rudy Esquiel and two women at about 3:00 a.m. During the search Esquiel produced a .38 caliber handgun and opened fire, wounding both officers. Hearn was critically injured, flown to Hermann Hospital for emergency surgery, and died at 5:20 a.m.

Esquiel was charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and possession of heroin, convicted, and ultimately sentenced to death by injection; his judgment was entered on August 18, 1978, and he was executed on June 9, 1986. Hearn was born November 8, 1949, in Houston, graduated from Waltrip High School in 1968 and the University of Texas in 1973. He is survived by his wife Jenny, son Torrance, parents Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Hearn, and sister Sayra Hesselsweet.