Deputy Sheriff Jerry Lee Inman

Jerry Lee Inman

Deputy Sheriff Jerry Inman was shot and killed when he and his partner interrupted a robbery in progress at a local convenience store at the intersection of I-44 and Route N. They had stopped at the store while on patrol but was unaware that it was being robbed by two men. When one saw the patrol car he ran out of the store and opened fire with a .22 caliber handgun. One of the rounds bounced off of the windshield of the car and struck Deputy Inman in the collar bone and heart. His partner was seriously wounded.

Both men, 22 and 25, were arrested and charged with murder. On January 3, 1969, both were convicted of murder and sentenced to life. The youngest suspect and Deputy Inman's killer was paroled in 1987. On August 10, 1988, he and another inmate, he met in prison, were charged with setting several fires, since his release from prison, in Overland Park, Kansas City, and Lawson that caused millions of dollars in damage to several homes and apartment buildings under construction. He was convicted of several arsons and sentenced to 70 years. He said he set the fires because of his hatred for police.

Deputy Inman was a U.S. Air Force veteran and had served with the Greene County Sheriff's Office for two years.