In the waning hours of New Year's Eve, 1982, a young Memphis police officer's life was tragically cut short, just thirteen days after he had proudly graduated from the police academy. John Wesley Sykes Jr., a 22-year-old male, was on patrol with his field training officer when they observed a car being driven erratically. Unbeknownst to the officers, the two occupants of the vehicle had just committed an armed robbery.
A pursuit began, and though the officers briefly lost sight of the
suspect's car, they soon spotted it hiding in John F. Kennedy Park. As the patrol car entered the park, the suspect's vehicle sped out from its hiding spot. As it passed the officers, one of the occupants opened fire. A single bullet from a. 357 magnum handgun struck Sykes in the neck, just above his bulletproof vest. He was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his wound about two hours later.
Two days later, two suspects were apprehended. They were subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and both were sentenced to life in prison. While incarcerated, both men were attacked and seriously injured by other inmates in September 1984, but they both recovered. One of the convicted men died in prison sometime after 2003, while the younger of the two was paroled at some point after 2011.
