•Jailer Floyd Coberly•

On February 23, 1897, 35 year old Jailer Floyd Coberly had been on the job at the Denton County Jail for only 10 days when George Henry and two other men were brought to the jail for a burglary. As Jailer Coberly was gathering the lunchtime dishes, Henry delivered a fatal blow to Jailer Coberly in the back of the head with a piece of wood that the inmate had been hiding in his room. Jailer Coberly fell down a flight of stairs as Henry prepared to shoot him with his own gun, only to be stopped by another inmate. Henry released all of the cell doors and fled with his accomplices, later to be captured on the edge of town. Henry was tried and executed by public hanging in Wise County. Jailer Coberly’s funeral was attended by a 1000 people who described him as a warm friend and an upright citizen.

•Special Deputy Robert Parsons•

Deputy Parsons was working as a Deputy for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office investigating the notorious Martin-Storey gang, a ring of thieves who operated in Denton County. Sheriff Fry had brought Deputy Parsons to Denton County from Sherman to rid the county of the lawlessness that had gripped the county for years. One of the leaders of the gang, WA Martin, was a Denton resident who had recently participated in a shootout on the square, bank robberies, and an automobile theft ring. Martin feared that Deputy Parsons was brought to Denton County to kill him. On August 6, 1925 Deputy Parsons approached Martin on East Hickory Street in front of Market Square. Accounts dispute what exactly transpired between the two men, but in the end, Deputy Parsons was on the ground after having been shot nine times. Deputy Parson did not fire his gun once. Martin was captured later in the day and received 99 years for the murder of 59 year old Deputy Robert Parsons.

•Deputy Carl “Red” Garrett•

On July 2, 1934, Jimmy Glasscock and Boyd Wilkerson were fresh out of jail after two liquor raids on the City Café in Justin resulted in charges of possessing illegal liquor for sale. At 1030 pm that Monday, Deputy Garrett and Deputy Hugh Elliott came busing through the door, search warrant in hand, to execute the third raid. Glasscock and Wilkerson immediately attempted to smash the liquor bottles trying to destroy the evidence. Deputy Garrett ordered the men to stop as he jumped ahead of Glasscock in an effort to protect the evidence. Wilkerson stopped, but Glasscock did not give up so easily. Glasscock reached for the gun he had slung from a belt around his waist as Deputy Elliott grabbed Glasscock to prevent him from shooting. As they struggled for the gun, a shot rang out, hitting Deputy Garrett in the throat. As Deputy Garrett fell to the floor, Deputy Elliott released Glasscock, stepped back, pulled out his gun and shot Glasscock in the head, fatally wounding him. Deputy Garrett was taken to the hospital where it was discovered the bullet had severed part of his spinal cord. Deputy Garrett passed away on July 3, 1934 at the age of 34 years old.

•Texas Ranger Bobby Paul Doherty•

(Pronounced "dot tree")

On February 20, 1978, Texas Ranger Doherty, along with three members of the Denton County Sheriff’s Office and two DPS narcotics officers, accompanied an informant to a small house in Argyle off Hickory Hill Road for a drug raid. Once there, the informant and one of the narcotics officers purchased a large sack of marijuana from Gregory Ott, a graduate student at North Texas State University. Ott and the two other men entered the house while the remaining officers surrounded the building. As the officers attempted to arrest Ott, he fired two shots through the door where Ranger Doherty was standing on the other side. The bullets struck Ranger Doherty in the forehead. At 1:00am the next day, 41 year old Ranger Doherty, a 20 year veteran of DPS who had been a Ranger for 18 months, was dead from his wounds. Ranger Doherty was the first Ranger in 47 years to die in the line of duty. Ott was sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled in 2004.

•Trooper Hollis Stephen Lacy•

On December 26, 1980, Trooper Lacy was attempting to pull over a car on the southbound FM 407 service road at IH 35W when the car he was following stopped just prior to the intersection. Trooper Lacy was unable to stop and proceeded into the intersection where his car was hit by a van. Trooper Lacy was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Trooper Lacy had started his career with the Department of Public Safety two years prior. At the age of 24 years old, he was the first African American Trooper in Texas to be killed in the line of duty.

•Sergeant William Keith Thurston•

Sgt. Thurston joined the Denton County Sheriff’s Office in March of 1986 after working four years at the Flower Mound Police Department. On December 6, 1986 he, was responding to another deputy’s call for assistance in Pilot Point. As he entered the intersection of FM 428 and Hwy 377 in Aubrey, a teenage driver in a jeep failed to stop at the stop sign, causing both vehicles to collide. Sgt. Thurston was pinned in his vehicle, extricated, and taken to Harris Hospital in Fort Worth. On December 10, 1986, at 46 years old, Sgt. Thurston died from the injuries he suffered in the accident.

•Detective Jerry Ronald Walker•

On the afternoon of January 17, 2017, Detective Walker along with his fellow Little Elm PD officers responded to a call of an armed subject in the 1400 block of Turtle Cove Drive in Little Elm. Responding officers encountered the subject, Rudy Garcia, standing behind a fence. As the officers ordered Garcia to drop his rifle, Garcia ran into his home and started shooting out of the windows. Detective Walker was struck in the neck by one of the rounds. He was flown to Medical City Denton where he succumbed to his wounds. Garcia remained barricaded inside the home for several hours and was later found dead inside the home, six hours after the initial shooting.
Detective Walker was a US Army Veteran who had proudly served the Town of Little Elm for 19 years. He was the first Little Elm PD officer to die in the line of duty leaving behind four children and many grieving friends.