In the early morning hours of September 9, 1978, a tragedy unfolded in the quiet town of Marshalltown, Iowa, forever altering the lives of a local family. Harry Euban Davis, a 46-year-old White/Caucasian male, had recently taken on a part-time role as a jailer with the Marshall County Sheriff's Office. It was a decision that placed him in the wrong place at the most unfortunate of times.
Only two weeks into his new job, while on duty at the Marshall County Jail then located on South Second Avenue, his life was abruptly cut short in a hail of gunfire.
At approximately 1:15 AM, as Davis sat in the lobby of the jail, a man named Everett Roy Lyon opened fire from outside the building. Lyon, armed with both a high-powered rifle and a revolver, unleashed a volley of shots through the front windows of the facility. The attack was sudden and brutal, leaving Davis with no chance to react or defend himself. The motive behind this violent act was a chilling case of mistaken identity. Lyon harbored a grudge against the Marshall County Sheriff at the time, Derald Gonzalez, and in a fatal error, believed Davis to be the sheriff.
The manhunt for the shooter did not last long. Everett Roy Lyon was apprehended later that same day and subsequently charged with first-degree murder for the death of Jailer Davis. The legal process that followed resulted in Lyon's conviction and a life sentence for the senseless killing. He would spend the remainder of his life incarcerated for his crime. Harry Euban Davis, a man who had only just begun his service in law enforcement, was survived by his wife and three children. His name is now etched on the Iowa Peace Officer Memorial in Des Moines, a lasting tribute to his sacrifice. Decades later, on March 5, 2020, Everett Roy Lyon died of natural causes at the age of 71 while still serving his life sentence.
