Trooper Layton T. Davis

In 1971, I was 10 years old and eldest of four boys. My family and I were moving from northern Illinois back to Metropolis that winter. My ma was driving, and as we crossed a small stream, the rented trailer we were towing slid on the ice. It drug our car off the highway and down an embankment. Even after all these years, I remember Trooper Davis' kindness, as he ascertained that none of us were seriously injured and radioed for a tow truck. My brothers and I sat in the back seat of his patrol car, while ma gave him a brief report of what had happened. Due to circumstances, we were traveling with almost no resources. Trooper Davis took us to a local motel, asked the clerk to rent us a room (though we had no money), and personally guaranteed that he would pay the bill if we failed to do so by the next day. He helped us get some food, and arranged for my aunt to have a ride to a bank the next morning to have some money transferred from her own bank. The car needed repairs to the front-end, and again, Trooper Davis made sure that my ma and my aunt had a ride to the shop to pick up the car, after the repairs. A few years later, when ma read of his murder, we were all in shock, and ma cried. Caring for people was a large part of his job, but caring ABOUT people was just who he was.

Shawn C. Bailey, American from Illinois
Grateful Recipient of Trooper Davis' Kindness

May 30, 2016