Deputy Sheriff Edward Toefield, Jr.

Edward Toefield, Jr.

Deputy Sheriff Edward Toefield was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a bank robbery suspect in Amite.

The man was wanted for robbing a bank in New Orleans and for raping his own daughter. Deputy Toefield encountered the man at the Hi-Ho Sam's Restuarant and placed him under arrest. He was searching the suspect when the man pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Deputy Toefield. The man then fled into nearby woods. He was shot and wounded the following day when he pointed his gun at a corrections officer involved in the manhunt.

The subject was sentenced to death. In October 2015, the death sentence was reduced to life in prison.

Deputy Toefield was survived by his wife, son, and three daughters.

On November 12th, 2021, Louisiana renamed the United States Highway 51 between its intersection with Louisiana Highway 16 near the town of Amite City and a point two and one-half miles south of the intersection in Tangipahoa Parish, the Deputy Ed Toefield Jr. Memorial Highway.