On February 21, 1997, Deputy Sheriff James P. Rutland, 53, was killed during a prisoner transport in rural Mississippi. Rutland was a two-year veteran of the Jefferson Davis County Sheriff’s Department and had previously served with the Monticello and Pearl Police Departments. He and Deputy Thomas Bourne were taking a convicted felon, 21-year-old Eric Leondra Snow, to the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility when Snow produced a concealed handgun and shot both deputies in the head. The patrol car had no cage separating the front and rear seats and a female inmate in the vehicle was not harmed; she later helped alert authorities.

Snow fled into nearby woods, triggering a nine-hour manhunt that involved state troopers, a patrol helicopter, and search dogs. He was found hiding behind a supermarket using infrared night vision equipment and taken into custody without resistance. Snow was charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Rutland and Bourne. Rutland left behind a wife, mother, and stepchildren.

Does anyone have memories of Rutland’s service in Jefferson Davis County or information about the transport procedures used that day?