William Ronnie Brooks was 27 and serving as a Trooper with the Arkansas State Police when he was killed on February 27, 1975, in Clarendon, Arkansas. He and other officers were responding after three men escaped from the Monroe County Jail. Brooks located the three just six blocks from the jail, handcuffed them and had them lying on the ground, but one of the apprehended men produced a hidden handgun and shot Trooper Brooks in an alley shortly before noon.

The three suspects were captured minutes after the shooting. Two men, aged 29 and 36, were charged and later convicted of murder; both received life sentences without the possibility of parole. Court records name Larry Ray Hutcherson as one of those found guilty of the capital murder of a policeman acting in the line of duty. Evidence at trial showed the pistol used to kill Trooper Brooks had been taken from a jailer during the escape.

Does anyone have additional information about the escape from the Monroe County Jail or the alley where Trooper Brooks was shot?