On the night of February 20, 1989, Virginia State Trooper Jerry Lynn Hines, a 48-year-old male and a 22-year veteran of the force, was on patrol when he initiated a traffic stop near the interchange of I-81 and I-64 in the Lexington area. The vehicle he pulled over was being driven erratically, leading him to suspect the driver was intoxicated. Unbeknownst to Trooper Hines, the male passenger in the car was in the midst of a violent crime spree.
As he was speaking with the female driver outside the vehicle, the passenger, Dennis Wayne Eaton, opened fire, striking the trooper in the neck and shoulder. The wounds were instantly fatal, and Trooper Hines's service revolver was still securely in its holster when he was found.
The vehicle fled the scene, sparking a high-speed chase after being spotted by the Salem Police Department. During the pursuit, Eaton killed the female passenger, Judy Ann McDonald. The chase ended when Eaton crashed the car into a utility pole. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, witnesses saw Eaton shoot and kill McDonald before turning the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt, which resulted in a gunshot wound to his right eye. The investigation following the chase and crash revealed a wider trail of violence. Eaton had murdered the car's owner, 68-year-old Ripley Marston Sr., and another man, Walter Custer Jr., earlier that day.
Dennis Wayne Eaton, a former orchard worker, was arrested and subsequently charged with the capital murder of Trooper Jerry Hines, as well as the other homicides. During his trial, another inmate testified that Eaton had confessed to being the one who shot Trooper Hines. Eaton's defense team claimed that Judy McDonald had been the shooter, but the jury rejected this version of events and found him guilty of capital murder. Eaton was sentenced to death. Despite a plea for mercy from Trooper Hines's sister, who was against the death penalty, and appeals from his attorneys, the sentence was upheld. Dennis Wayne Eaton was executed by lethal injection on June 18, 1998.
