Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Ohio
End of Watch: Sunday, June 10, 1984
Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 3 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Incident: June 9, 1984
Weapon Used: Edged weapon; Shank
Suspect Info: Executed in 2004
Deputy Sheriff Phillip Pence was stabbed to death by an inmate while conducting searches of cells for weapons.
He was stabbed as he entered the cell by the suspect who had warned earlier that he would kill the next person to come into his cell. Deputy Pence was stabbed in the chest with a shank fashioned from a metal bucket handle.
The suspect was sentenced to death and executed on June 8th, 2004.
Deputy Pence had served with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department for three years. He was survived by his mother.