In the pre-dawn hours of a 1957 morning in Leighton, Alabama, Police Chief Henry Jennings Searcy was preparing for his day. At approximately 5 a.m., while adjusting his gun belt, he was ambushed. A suspect opened fire with a. 44 caliber rifle, striking the 38-year-old chief ten times and killing him almost instantly. The man who would be charged with his murder had a previous encounter with the chief, having been charged by him for killing an animal without cause.
About thirty minutes
after the shooting, the suspect turned himself in to the authorities. He was subsequently charged with the murder of Chief Searcy. The legal process that followed culminated on December 5, 1957, when the man was convicted of first-degree murder. For the crime, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Henry Searcy was a World War II Army veteran who had dedicated his life to law enforcement. He had served as the chief of the two-person Leighton Police Department for two and a half years. Before that, he had spent seven and a half years with the Colbert County Sheriff's Department. His life of service was remembered by his surviving parents, three brothers, and five sisters.
