Deputy Sheriff B. G. E. Daughtry, aged 45, was fatally wounded on December 17, 1903, while assisting a Deputy United States Marshal in Westbrook Township, North Carolina. The incident occurred when they were serving a capias on a man who had failed to appear in federal court in Raleigh. The man, along with another individual, had been charged with destroying rural mailboxes near their homes.
Upon arriving at the suspect's home, Deputy Daughtry attempted to create more light by stoking the fire, but the suspect opened fire from his position in a nearby bed. The suspect wounded the deputy marshal before shooting Deputy Daughtry in the abdomen as he returned fire. Despite their injuries, the officers managed to subdue the suspect and take him into custody.
The suspect was initially sentenced to three years in federal prison for the mailbox destruction charges. Following Deputy Daughtry's death on December 22, 1903, the suspect was charged with murder and later convicted, receiving a 15-year sentence in 1906. Deputy Daughtry was survived by his wife and seven children.
This tragic event highlights the dangers faced by law enforcement officers in the line of duty and the impact such incidents have on their families and communities.
