Major Cecil Spencer Guerry, a 37-year-old male, served as the Deputy Chief of Police in Georgetown, South Carolina. A respected law enforcement officer with 15 years of service, his life was tragically cut short in the line of duty. On the evening of Monday, March 7, 1994, he conducted a traffic stop of a silver Honda Prelude with expired Colorado license plates in the parking lot of a car wash on Highmarket Street.
The driver of the vehicle was David Clayton Hill.
After obtaining Hill's identification and vehicle registration, Major Guerry returned to his patrol car to call in the information to the dispatcher. As he walked back towards Hill's car, he was shot once in the face. Despite the severe wound, Major Guerry was able to radio for help. His last transmission captured just a few words, including '...shot me.' Hill's identification card and the car's registration were later found in Major Guerry's shirt pocket. Major Guerry succumbed to the gunshot wound two days later, on March 9, 1994, without ever regaining consciousness. He was survived by his wife and their two young sons.
Following the shooting, the suspect, David Clayton Hill, fled the scene. He drove to his house, picked up his girlfriend and some belongings, and then went to his mother's home. After attempting to dispose of his vehicle in a ditch, Hill eventually called the police and was arrested just a couple of hours after the incident. Hill was indicted for the murder of Major Guerry on April 20, 1994.
The trial began in October 1995. During the proceedings, Hill's defense claimed that another person had been hiding in the backseat of the car and was the actual shooter. However, several witnesses testified that Hill was the only person in the vehicle. The jury deliberated for a short time before finding him guilty of murder and sentencing him to death. After years of appeals, David Clayton Hill was executed by lethal injection on March 19, 2004, for the murder of Major Cecil Spencer Guerry.
