National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Officer Rank: Transportation Officer

Memorial Panel: 29-E: 29

Department: Tennessee Department of Correction

End of Watch: November 9, 1951

Cause: SHOT

Age: 40

Years of Service: Unk

Description: Transportation Officer Cox and Records Clerk Joseph Blevins were transporting a fugitive from Somerset, Kentucky back to the Brushy Mountain Correctional facility in Tennessee when they were both attacked and shot by the fugitive. The men had stopped at a restaurant for a meal and the fugitive's handcuffs were unlocked so that he could eat. The fugitive grabbed Officer Cox's weapon and shot him in the chest with his own gun. Officer Cox died at the scene. Clerk Blevins, who was also shot, died at the hospital. The fugitive fled the scene but turned himself in to the authorities the next day.