Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

AROUND THE COUNTRY
GEORGE COUNTY, MS.
George County Deputy Jerry Malone was shot and
killed during a traffic stop outside a Dollar General.
GEORGE COUNTY, MS. – A hero
cop in Mississippi was shot and
killed during a traffic stop outside
a Dollar General by a man
with a criminal history spanning
three decades.
George County Sheriff’s Deputy
Jeremy Malone, 44, was killed
around 5:15pm on January 4
outside of a Dollar General on US
Highway 98 near Lucedale.
The suspect, Ricky Powell, 43,
shot Malone as he approached
his vehicle before he fled the
scene. Cops later chased Powell
as he drove through Greene
County and into Perry County
before they shot and killed the
suspect.
An outpouring of support
flooded social media as the
small community mourned
Malone’s sudden death.
George County Sheriff Mitchell
Mixon said Malone was “larger
than life” and that he centered
his life around his family and his
career.
Malone previously served with
multiple law enforcement agencies
across the state, including
the Leakesville Police Department
and the Jackson County
Sheriff’s Department.
Beaumont Mayor Scotty Dailey
who graduated alongside
Malone at Perry Central High
School in 1988 told WDAM: “If we
played cops and robbers out on
the playground, then we knew
Jeremy was gonna be the cop
because that was his whole life
ambition, to be an officer.”
“Mississippi will always remember
Deputy Malone. Our
state remains deeply thankful for
all of our law enforcement officers
who bravely place their lives
on the line every day in defense
of our communities,” Mississippi
Governor Tate Reeves said in an
executive order.
A GoFundMe page was created
in honor of Officer Malone
and has set out to raise money
for his family. It has raised more
than $44,000 as of Friday.
First responders across the
state also reached out to the
Tunnels to Towers Foundation
to assist Malone’s family following
his death. The foundation,
which has set out to help ‘America’s
heroes by providing mortgage-free
homes’ to the families
of fallen first responders.
On Monday, the foundation
announced that they paid off
Malone’s home, which the family
had just purchased, according to
DEPUTY JERRY MALONE
WXXV.
Malone’s patrol car has also
been placed outside of the
George County Sheriff’s Office
Memorial in honor of the fallen
officer.
“I feel that incident speaks
for who Jeremy Malone truly is.
He was the most selfless kind
hearted man I have met in law
enforcement,” Brandon Walley,
an officer that worked alongside
Malone said in a Facebook
post.
“It was truly a honor to get
to share that moment with him
and I know The George County
Sheriffs Office will never be the
same without him, asking me
every weekend where we was
gonna set up.”
30 The Blues - February ‘24