Deputy Sheriff Ray Westover

Ray Westover

Deputy Sheriff Ray Westover was shot and killed as he and a state trooper searched three men they had stopped in a stolen vehicle on Ohio State Route 2 and Wynn Road in Oregon, Ohio. The trooper shot one suspect as Deputy Westover's killer fled in the car, leaving his two companions behind.

The suspect fled into Toledo, where he lost control of the vehicle as he attempted to swerve around a police roadblock in front of St. Charles Hospital. Just before he crashed, he struck and killed a 19-year-old woman and seriously injured a blind man she was helping cross the street.

The 35-year-old suspect who shot Deputy Westover was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life in 1972 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled all death sentences unconstitutional.

Deputy Westover had served with the Lucas County Sheriff's Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and four children.