Deputy Sheriff Levi Harness

Levi Harness

Deputy Harness and Constable Alvin Jeffers, of the Scott County Fifth District Constable's Office, were shot and killed as they and two other officers attempted to serve warrants on a man and his wife near Winfield.

When they entered the darkened house, the husband and his son opened fire on the officers. Constable Jeffers was struck in the chest and another officer was grazed in the head.

The two remaining officers took up positions on either side of the house, as the wounded officer drove Constable Jeffers to a local hospital where he died later that evening.

Deputy Harness took up a position in the front of the house and the second deputy took up a position in the rear of the house. After several minutes, the suspects opened fire again, striking Deputy Harness three times, killing him. They then fled the scene. Both men turned themselves in several days later.

Both men, the 70-year-old father and his 35-year-old son, were convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to 21 years for each conviction to run concurrently. The son was paroled in 1971. His father died in 1970.