On a spring day in Memphis, Tennessee, the life of a veteran police officer was tragically cut short in a violent encounter. Lieutenant Clarence P. Cox Jr., a 53-year-old male member of the Memphis Police Department, was on duty on May 12, 1981, when he encountered a suspicious person. That individual turned out to be Laron Williams, a man who had recently escaped from the Memphis Correctional Center where he was serving a sentence for the murder of a prostitute in Nashville.
The attempt
to arrest Williams quickly escalated into a struggle. In the ensuing chaos, Williams managed to gain control of Lieutenant Cox's service weapon. He then fatally shot the officer, ending a 22-year career dedicated to law enforcement. The brazen murder of a police lieutenant sparked an intensive manhunt for the escaped convict.
Following the killing of Lieutenant Cox, Williams' violent spree continued. He fled to Jackson, Tennessee, where, just two days later, he murdered a Catholic priest, Reverend John Jay Jackson, during a burglary of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. The search for Williams intensified as law enforcement from multiple jurisdictions worked to bring his string of terror to an end.
The manhunt concluded with Williams' capture in Jackson, Tennessee. He was subsequently tried and convicted for the murders of both Lieutenant Clarence P. Cox Jr. and Reverend John Jay Jackson. For these heinous crimes, he received two separate death sentences. However, his fate would ultimately be decided not by the state, but by fellow inmates. While on death row, Laron Williams was beaten to death with a barbell by other prisoners, bringing a violent end to a violent life.
