Alabama Department of Public Safety, Alabama
End of Watch: Friday, April 19, 1974
Age: 51
Tour of Duty: 18 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Vehicular assault
Date of Incident: April 19, 1974
Weapon Used: Automobile
Suspect Info: Sentenced to 1 year
Trooper Kenyon Lassiter was struck and killed by a hit and run driver on Route 331, approximately eight miles north of Opp.
Trooper Lassiter was standing next to his patrol car writing a warning to a driver he had just stopped when another vehicle crossed over the double yellow lines, struck the vehicle that Trooper Lassiter had stopped, and then struck and killed Trooper Lassiter.
The driver fled but was later apprehended and convicted of second-degree manslaughter. He was released after serving only six months of his one year sentence.
In an odd twist of fate, several months earlier Trooper Lassiter had saved the life of the driver who killed him when he was involved in an automobile accident.
Trooper Lassiter was a U.S. Army veteran of WWII and had served with the Alabama Department of Public Safety for 18 years. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.