Sergeant Jacquelyn Kay Jackie Sherrill, a trailblazer for women in law enforcement, was killed while serving an arrest warrant on December 31, 1984. A California native born in 1951 who became Hattiesburg’s first female police officer in 1974, Sherrill had been promoted to sergeant and detective in 1983. She was 33 when she and three other officers went to serve a warrant for incest involving a juvenile at a residence on East Side Avenue.

According to reports, three uniformed officers approached the front door while Sergeant Sherrill, in plain clothes, went to the back. The suspect, 48-year-old Noah Wheeler, became agitated during the encounter, gained control of one officer’s service revolver and fired. Hearing the shots, Sherrill ran to assist and was struck in the chest on the front porch. She was taken to Forrest General Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

Noah Wheeler was arrested and charged with capital murder; a jury convicted him and sentenced him to death. The Mississippi Supreme Court later overturned the death sentence on grounds that there was reasonable doubt whether Wheeler knew Sherrill was an officer because she was not in uniform, though she reportedly displayed a holster and badge on her belt. The sentence was then reduced to life in prison and he became eligible for parole.