On the evening of November 27, 2005, Brandon Douglas Breland, a 23-year-old White / Caucasian male serving as a narcotics investigator for the Wiggins Police Department, responded to a call that would tragically end his watch. Known affectionately as "Teddy" by friends and family, Breland had dedicated five years to the force in Wiggins, Mississippi. Around 8:00 p.m. that Sunday, he and fellow officer Odell Fite were dispatched to a mobile home on South First Street to address a reported domestic disturbance. The situation escalated rapidly upon their arrival, transforming a routine response into a fatal encounter for both law enforcement officials.
During the intervention at the residence, a male subject involved in the disturbance managed to overpower the officers in a physical struggle. The assailant gained control of one of the officers'. 40 caliber service weapons and opened fire, striking both Breland and Fite. Neither officer was wearing a bullet-resistant vest at the time of the confrontation. When dispatchers were subsequently unable to reach either man by radio, emergency assistance was requested from the Stone County Sheriff's Office and the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Responding units arrived at the scene to find the lifeless bodies of Investigator Breland and Officer Fite lying outside the mobile home.
Law enforcement quickly identified the suspect as Ronald Husband. Following the shooting, Husband fled the scene but was apprehended a short time later at his residence in the nearby community of Maxie, Mississippi. Authorities charged him with two counts of capital murder for the deaths of the two officers. The legal proceedings against Husband were moved to Lauderdale County to ensure a fair trial due to significant pretrial publicity in the local area. In 2008, a jury convicted Husband on both counts of capital murder. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a conviction that was later upheld by the state Court of Appeals in 2009.
