Correctional Officer Jerry Sanders

Jerry Sanders

Correctional Officer Jerry Sanders was stabbed and killed while working at the Deuel Vocational Institution.

Two inmates, both members of the radical Black Panthers, were charged with his murder. Their first trial ended with a hung jury. In the second trial, both were found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The California Supreme Court overturned their convictions and ordered a third trial, which ended with another hung jury. In 1981, their fourth trial resulted in an acquittal for both. One inmate, serving a sentence for armed robbery, was released. The other inmate, serving a life sentence for a previous murder conviction, remained in prison.

Officer Sanders had served with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for six years. Survivors include a son, daughter, father, brother, and three uncles.

The Black Panther Party was a black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary political and militant organization active in the United States between 1966 and 1982. 

Members and former members of the group were responsible for the murders of over 20 law enforcement officers and the wounding of dozens more across the nation.

Please click here to visit all the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the Black Panther Party's violent activism.