In the early morning hours of April 14, 1991, in the small town of Pineville, Missouri, the life of 22-year-old David Allen Thurman was tragically cut short. A white male serving as a Patrol Officer, Thurman was on duty with the town marshal, Lloyd Perkins, when they observed two men acting suspiciously in a grocery store parking lot. One of the individuals was carrying a tire iron near Officer Thurman's personal vehicle.
As the officers approached to question the two men, what began as
a routine inquiry quickly escalated into a violent confrontation. The suspects, who initially claimed they needed to retrieve their identification from their truck, suddenly attacked the officers. Marshal Perkins was struck, possibly with the tire iron, and as Officer Thurman moved to assist his colleague, a struggle ensued. In the ensuing chaos, one of the suspects managed to gain control of Officer Thurman's. 357 magnum service weapon. He was then shot multiple times, with fatal wounds to the back of the head, face, and lower back.
Despite being injured, Marshal Perkins was able to make his way back to the patrol car and fired at the suspects as they fled the scene. The two men, later identified as 19-year-old David L. Moore and 18-year-old Billy Joe Price, both from Gravette, Arkansas, were apprehended a short time later in Arkansas.
The aftermath of the violent encounter saw both suspects facing the legal consequences of their actions. David L. Moore was charged with capital murder and assault on a law enforcement officer. Billy Joe Price faced a charge of second-degree murder. In 1993, Price pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge of stealing. Moore, the other suspect, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
