Sergeant John D. Duvall

John D. Duvall

Sergeant John Duvall was stabbed and beaten to death by an inmate-trustee at Parchman Penitentiary.

The inmate, who was serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter, had been reported missing from his unit. Sergeant Duvall's wife arrived at their home, located within the prison complex, to find her 18-year-old daughter missing and her husband lying on the kitchen floor, dead from multiple stab wounds. The inmate had kidnapped their daughter, who managed to escape, unharmed, the next day.

Two days later the inmate surrendered after being surrounded by national guardsmen and a posse of more than 2,000 men. As he was being escorted to jail he was seized by an angry mob, tied to a pile of logs, doused with gasoline, and burned to death.

Sergeant Duvall was survived by his wife and eight children.