On Friday afternoon, May 17, 2002, Pittsylvania County Deputy Sheriff Frankie Lynn Betterton, 43, was killed during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 58 near Danville. After speaking with a female driver, Betterton had the male occupant, Roy Inge Jr., sit in the deputy’s patrol car. While seated in the passenger seat, Inge produced a .380 caliber handgun and shot Deputy Betterton once in the head, a single fatal wound that ended the deputy’s three-year career.

Inge fled the scene and was captured the next morning at about 5:30 a.m. He was charged with capital murder. At trial, a former inmate testified that Inge had confessed and described knowing he planned to shoot the deputy. A jury found Roy Inge Jr. guilty; although the jury recommended death, the judge sentenced him to life in prison. The motive for the shooting was not clearly detailed, and the community was left mourning a husband and father.

If anyone has memories of Deputy Betterton, details from that traffic stop, or information that hasn’t been shared, please come forward.