In the late afternoon of February 23, 1989, an off-duty Jackson Police Department officer, Patrolman Bobby Joe Biggert, a 39-year-old male, tragically lost his life when he intervened in a violent crime in progress. Biggert walked into Dr. Duck's Pawn Shop located at 4601 Raymond Road and unwittingly interrupted an armed robbery. The perpetrator, who was in the process of robbing the store, shot the veteran officer.
Emergency services were called to the scene, and Biggert was rushed to Hinds General Hospital. Despite undergoing surgery, he succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the head the following day, February 24, 1989.
The man responsible for the fatal shooting was identified as Kenneth Leon Davis. In the course of the robbery, Davis had also confronted the pawn shop clerk, Tammy Slaton. After shooting Biggert, Davis fled the scene in Slaton's vehicle. An investigation was immediately launched, and law enforcement officers began a search for the stolen car and the suspect. The vehicle was later discovered abandoned, and investigators found a. 22 caliber pistol and other items nearby. A fingerprint found on a knife at the scene was matched to Davis, who had a prior criminal record and was on parole at the time of the murder.
An arrest warrant was issued, and Kenneth Leon Davis was taken into custody on the night of March 16, 1989. He was subsequently indicted for the capital murder of Patrolman Bobby Joe Biggert. His trial commenced on March 11, 1991, in the First Judicial District of Hinds County. The pawn shop clerk, Tammy Slaton, positively identified Davis as the man who shot and killed Biggert. After hearing the evidence presented by the prosecution, the jury found Davis guilty of capital murder. Following the conviction, a sentencing hearing was held, and on March 15, 1991, Kenneth Leon Davis was sentenced to death. After a series of appeals, Davis's conviction and death sentence were upheld. He remained on death row until he died of natural causes in prison.
