In the late hours of November 14, 1995, Jackson Police Department Officer Robert Joe Washington, Sr., a 37-year-old male, was on patrol in Precinct 2. At approximately 9:00 p.m., he cleared his last call near Highway 80 and Shaw Road. When his shift concluded at 10:00 p.m., Officer Washington failed to report to the precinct, and attempts by the dispatcher to reach him were met with silence. His patrol car was later discovered parked in front of an abandoned house on Clinton Avenue.
A massive search involving the Jackson Police Department and other law enforcement agencies ensued throughout the night.
The following morning, the search came to a grim end when Officer Washington's body was found in the lot of the old Showtime Drive-In Theater off Highway 80. He had been shot multiple times. He had served with the police department for 11 years and was survived by his wife, son, and numerous siblings.
The investigation into Officer Washington's murder proved to be a long and complex ordeal. For years, the case remained cold. However, in February 2007, a suspect named Sharrod Moore was arrested and charged with capital murder. The prosecution's case was reportedly built on the testimony of witnesses who claimed to have seen Moore shoot the officer. One witness, Stephan Hickman, who was facing a separate murder charge, provided a detailed deposition implicating Moore.
Despite the initial charges, the case against Sharrod Moore was fraught with complications and allegations of a cover-up. Moore's defense attorneys accused the district attorney of prosecutorial misconduct, alleging that perjured witness accounts were used to secure the indictment. It was later revealed that some of the key witnesses who implicated Moore were incarcerated at the time of the murder. Furthermore, the district attorney at the time alleged that files had been destroyed or gone missing and that detectives who got close to solving the case in the past had been transferred. In 2009, all charges against Sharrod Moore were dropped without prejudice, and to this day, the murder of Officer Robert Joe Washington, Sr. remains officially unsolved, and no one has been convicted for his death.
