Decatur County Sheriff's Office, Georgia
End of Watch: Sunday, October 29, 1905
Age: 45
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: October 29, 1905
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Lynched
Sheriff Martin Stegall was shot and killed by a man he was attempting to arrest for the murder of a woman on Broad Street in Bainbridge.
Sheriff Stegall, who was nearby when the shooting occurred, approached the suspect to make the arrest, when without warning the suspect turned and shot him through the chest. As Sheriff Stegall fell he shot the suspect through his shoulder. The suspect was captured minutes later.
Later that night a mob of more than 300 men stormed the county jail, seized the suspect, and hanged him from the Flint River Bridge.
Sheriff Stegall was survived by his wife and six children. He is buried in Oak City Cemetery in Bainbridge, Georgia.