In the town of Athens, Alabama, the name Benton McLemore is tied to two separate and tragic deaths, decades apart, each leaving a somber mark on the community. One was a dedicated law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty, the other a man who became a victim of the dangerous world of drug informants.
The first story unfolds on a spring day in 1969.
Lieutenant Benton Wilson McLemore, a 56-year-old officer with the Athens Police Department, was responding to a call to check on the welfare of a local man known to have a history of mental illness. On March 7th, when Lieutenant McLemore arrived at the man's residence and knocked on the door, he was met with a sudden and fatal blast from a shotgun. The suspect, after killing the officer, barricaded himself inside. When backup officers arrived, a tense standoff ensued with an exchange of gunfire. Before he could be apprehended, the suspect took his own life. The community mourned the loss of a public servant, and the case was closed with the death of the perpetrator.
Years later, in a completely different set of circumstances, another man named McLemore from Athens met a violent end. In August of 2002, this McLemore was acting as a confidential informant for the Athens Police Department. He had been sent by officers to conduct a drug buy from a dealer. Despite warnings that the dealer intended to harm McLemore for cooperating with the police, he was sent on the assignment without protection. The arrangement proved fatal, as the drug dealer murdered McLemore for his role as an informant. In the aftermath, a lawsuit was filed against the City of Athens and the police officers involved, alleging that their deliberate indifference to McLemore's safety led to his death. The legal proceedings that followed highlighted the inherent dangers faced by those who walk the precarious line between the criminal underworld and law enforcement.
