Trooper George Danny Nash, Jr.

George Danny Nash, Jr.

Trooper Nash was shot and killed after stopping a speeding vehicle driven by an escaped convict.

Trooper Nash stopped the vehicle on Highway 84 for doing 67 in a 55 mile per hour zone. The car was stolen, and the driver and passenger were convicts who had escaped from the Dooley County Jail in Georgia on January 12, 1983. When Trooper Nash approached the vehicle, he was shot at point-blank range in the chest, but Trooper Nash was wearing his vest, and the bullet was stopped.

However, Trooper Nash stumbled back towards his patrol car and fell to the pavement from the force of the gunshot. The driver exited and walked up to Trooper Nash and shot him once more in the head, killing him instantly. Trooper Nash's gun was still holstered when a civilian found him lying just in front of his patrol car. Both were apprehended in May of 1983. One, 36, was apprehended in Jackson, Tennessee, and the other, 34, in Hardin County, Kentucky. On August 19, 1983, the shooter, 34 was sentenced to life without parole. On October 12, 1983, the other escapee was sentenced to life without parole. As of December 4, 2022, both were still in prison.

Trooper Nash had served as a trooper with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety - Mississippi Highway Patrol for just three months and was assigned to Troop M in Brookhaven. Prior to becoming a trooper, he served as a radio operator for Troop J in Hattiesburg. He is survived by his parents, brother, sister, and fiancée.

A section of Highway 84 in Franklin County was dedicated in Trooper Nash's memory.