Sergeant James Amos Meeks

James Amos Meeks

Sergeant James Meeks was shot and killed by an inmate at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

The inmate had been assigned to a work detail at Sergeant Meeks' home, which was located inside the prison complex. The inmate had entered the home and locked Sergeant Meeks' wife and her two small children in a closet. When Sergeant Meeks arrived home at the end of his shift, the inmate attacked him, gained control of his service revolver, and shot him. His wife managed to kick the door open, saw he husband on the floor and called for an ambulance. She then found herself face to face with her husband's killer. He tied her up, threw her on her bed, and raped her. When he heard the ambulance he fled. He was apprehended a short time later by a state trooper and a correctional officer.

The inmate, 23, who was serving a life sentence for the brickbat murder of a Chinese merchant in 1969, was convicted of first-degree murder and received another life sentence on March 1st, 1973. He was released in 2003.

Sergeant Meeks was a United States Marine Corps veteran who served with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He was survived by his wife and six children.