Officer Willis Martin

Willis Martin

Officer Martin was shot and killed when he entered a shoe store to investigate an open door. A citizen who had found a new shoe lying on the street took it home to show his brother. When the two checked about 0730 hours to see if shoe stores in the area had been burglarized, they found Policeman Martin's body lying inside the open door of one of the shoe stores.

Four men were arrested for the murder. After being arrested, one of the men implicated another of the men as the actual trigger man. The trigger man was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years and 7 years for burglary. He was paroled on October 24, 1933. The suspect who implicated him was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years.

Officer Martin was survived by his wife, five children, three brothers and three sisters.