Corporal Betty Dunn Smothers

Betty Dunn Smothers

Corporal Betty Smothers was shot and killed in an ambush attack while moonlighting as a security guard.

Corporal Smothers was in uniform and driving a marked patrol car when she and the store manager went to a bank on Jefferson Highway to make a night deposit. As they sat in the patrol car, three suspects approached and opened fire. They fatally wounded Corporal Smothers and injured the manager.

All three suspects were arrested after the incident. The driver was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The shooter and the man who injured the manager were sentenced to death for Corporal Smothers' murder. In 2016, the shooter was resentenced to life in prison, and in 2023, he was denied clemency.

Corporal Smothers had served with the Baton Rouge City Police Department for 14 years. She is survived by her two daughters and four sons.