Sergeant Chester J. Tullos

Chester J. Tullos

Sergeant Chester Tullos, a traveling sergeant with the Mississippi State Penitentiary and former sheriff of Smith County, was shot and killed while he and a guard were transporting two inmates from Hattiesburg to the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

While they were driving six miles north of Hattiesburg, one of the inmates grabbed a revolver that had been hidden inside of the vehicle. The prisoner shot Sergeant Tullos and then handcuffed the guard to a nearby tree. They threw Sergeant Tullos's body from the vehicle as they sped away.

One inmate was quickly captured. The shooter, a 26-year-old convicted murderer, was shot and killed six weeks later in Hattiesburg by the Forrest County sheriff and two of his deputies.

Sergeant Tullos had served with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for eight years. He was survived by his wife and five children.