In the early morning hours of December 26, 2003, a day that should have been filled with post-holiday peace, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Nikky Joe Green, a 35-year-old male, was on duty. His tour of six years with the highway patrol had seasoned him, but nothing could have prepared him for the events that would unfold on a rural road just north of Devol, a small town a few miles from the Texas state line.
Around 7:00 a.m., Trooper Green radioed his dispatcher to report a disabled
vehicle with its hood and trunk open on the roadside. As he approached the car, he discovered that the occupant was involved in the production of methamphetamine. A confrontation ensued when Green attempted to arrest the man. The situation quickly escalated into a violent struggle, during which the suspect, later identified as Ricky Ray Malone, managed to gain control of Trooper Green's service weapon.
The dash camera in Trooper Green's patrol car captured the harrowing audio of the final moments of his life. A struggle can be heard, and Trooper Green's pleas for his life are audible before the sound of a gunshot rings out. When the highway patrol lost radio contact with Green, a Cotton County Sheriff's deputy was dispatched to his last known location. The deputy discovered Trooper Green's body alongside the rural road. He had been shot and killed.
An intensive manhunt for the suspect followed. Two days after the murder, Ricky Ray Malone was apprehended. Malone, who had fled the scene after the shooting, was eventually brought to trial. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder for the death of Trooper Nikky Green and sentenced him to death. However, the death sentence was later overturned on appeal due to issues with testimony during the sentencing phase, and a new sentencing trial was ordered. Trooper Green, who was survived by his wife and three daughters, was remembered as a dedicated officer who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
