Deputy Sheriff Ollie F. "Sammie" Childress, Jr., age 54, of Wilson County Sheriff's Office, Texas, was tragically shot and killed execution-style on November 4, 1983. Deputy Childress was abducted by two suspects while on duty. The suspects had planned to use his uniform and patrol car to commit a bank robbery. When Deputy Childress stopped his vehicle, the suspects displayed their guns, forced him to disrobe, handcuffed him, and placed him in the trunk of his patrol car.
One of the suspects then put on part of Deputy Childress's uniform and drove to a bank on U.S. 87, where he robbed it at 11:50 a.m. After the robbery, the suspects returned to their vehicle, opened the trunk, and shot Deputy Childress in the neck. They drove away but returned moments later to wipe the patrol car clean of fingerprints. Finding that Deputy Childress was still alive, they shot him in the neck a second time, killing him instantly.
The suspects were eventually apprehended. The shooter was sentenced to death, and the other suspect, the shooter's nephew, was sentenced to 25 years. On May 3, 2017, the shooter's death sentence was commuted to life. The shooter died in prison in 2023. Deputy Childress had served with the Wilson County Sheriff's Office for three years and was survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren, his father, and four siblings.
This tragic incident highlights the dangers law enforcement officers face daily and the ultimate sacrifice Deputy Childress made in the line of duty.
