Deputy Sheriff John R. Klem III, 44, was killed after responding to a disturbance call at the Big K Truck Stop on U.S. 49 North in Rawls Springs, Mississippi. Klem, who had served the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office for thirteen years, went to the scene on the evening of September 15, 1985, after two female clerks reported a man causing trouble.

He recognized the suspect from an encounter the previous night and, while searching him, was overpowered. The suspect gained control of Klem’s service weapon and fired two shots that wounded the deputy. Klem was taken to Forrest General Hospital and died of his wounds on September 30, 1985. The suspect, a 26-year-old man, was arrested, convicted of murder, and on June 29, 1987, sentenced to life in prison.

Klem was survived by his wife and three sons.