In the early morning hours of January 5, 1983, a routine check on a local motel in Elk City, Oklahoma, turned into a tragic event for Sergeant Steven Leroy Mahan. The 30-year-old male officer with the Elk City Police Department was making his usual rounds when he noticed something amiss at the Los Cuartos Inn. He saw a man running from the location, and as he moved to investigate, he was confronted by another individual.
A struggle ensued, and Sergeant Mahan was disarmed.
The suspect then used the officer's own handcuffs to restrain him, forcing him to the ground. In a cold and calculated act, the man shot Sergeant Mahan three times. The wounds proved to be fatal, and he passed away at 5:30 a.m. that morning. He had been with the Elk City Police Department for five years and was survived by his young daughter.
The investigation into the murder of Sergeant Mahan led to the swift apprehension of three suspects. Two of the men, Jerry E. Long and Mitchell E. Henderson, were subsequently tried, convicted, and sentenced to forty years in prison for their roles in the crime. The third man, Bobby L. Ross, who was identified as the shooter, received the death penalty. After years of appeals, Ross was executed by lethal injection on December 9, 1999.
