Chief Deputy Sheriff Leonard Paul Taylor

Leonard Paul Taylor

Chief Deputy Sheriff Leonard Taylor and Deputy Sheriff Oran Blasingame were killed in a vehicle crash on US Highway 64 six miles west of Selmer.

Chief Deputy Taylor and Deputy Blasingame were passengers in a vehicle being driven by a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent en route to Memphis to interview two juveniles suspected in being in a series of burglaries in the county. Their car struck a logging truck that made a left turn in front of them.

A citizen that they were going to drop off at a Memphis hospital was also killed in the crash.

Chief Deputy Taylor was a WWII veteran and had served with the McNairy County Sheriff's Office for 2-1/2 years. He was survived by his wife and three children.