In the quiet, early morning hours of November 4, 1988, a dedicated officer's life was tragically cut short in a sudden act of violence. Sergeant John Lee Martin, a 39-year-old male and a seventeen-year veteran of the Lee County Sheriff's Office, was on patrol in Ewing, Virginia. Just before 3:00 a.m., he radioed dispatch to report that he was investigating a suspicious car that was lingering behind the Western Lee County Health Clinic. As he approached the vehicle, a large brown or tan car, the driver unexpectedly opened fire with a. 44 caliber handgun, striking the sergeant multiple times in the upper chest and right hip. Despite his grave injuries, Sergeant Martin managed to return fire, emptying his own service weapon at the fleeing vehicle. Before losing consciousness, he was able to provide a crucial description of his assailant and the car, noting it had an Illinois 'Land of Lincoln' license plate.
Responding to the unanswered calls, a fellow deputy arrived to find Sergeant Martin gravely wounded. He was rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he fought for his life for three days before succumbing to his wounds. The investigation into his murder launched immediately, with the description of the car and the shooter as the primary leads. The suspect's vehicle, which had been stolen from an Illinois car dealership, was discovered days later, stripped and burned, but the bullet holes from Sergeant Martin's gun in the driver's side door confirmed it was the right car. The investigation led authorities to David Wayne Mills, who had recently moved to Illinois from Virginia. A search of his home uncovered evidence linking him to the crime, including. 44 caliber magnum shells with three missing, matching the bullets used in the shooting. The murder weapon itself was later recovered from Mills' grandfather, to whom he had given it.
On January 5, 1989, David Wayne Mills was arrested and charged with the murder of Sergeant John Martin. During questioning, Mills admitted to being present during the shooting but attempted to place the blame on an accomplice, Jerry Houston. However, evidence and Sergeant Martin's own account of a single occupant in the car pointed to Mills acting alone. Investigators believe the motive for the shooting was Mills' fear of being caught with the stolen vehicle. In November 1989, a jury convicted David Wayne Mills of first-degree murder, attempted burglary, and use of a firearm. He received a life sentence for the murder, with an additional twelve years for the other charges.
