Deputy U.S. Marshal Reuben LaFayette Hughett

Reuben LaFayette Hughett

Deputy Marshal Reuben Hughett succumbed to gunshot wounds sustained two days earlier as he and several other officers attempted to serve a warrant on present-day Maynardville Highway in the Copper Ridge in Knox County, Tennessee.

The suspects named in the warrant had sold liquor to a prohibition agent several days earlier. After serving the warrant, one of the men asked to go inside to retrieve personal items. Deputy Marshal Hughett allowed him to go inside, but followed him into the home. The man told Deputy Marshal Hughett to wait in one room as the man went into another, but Deputy Marshal Hughett continued to follow him. A struggle ensued, and the man produced a revolver and shot Deputy Marshal Hughett. The suspect was then taken into custody.

Deputy Marshal Hughett was transported to Fort Sanders Hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds on June 15, 1930.

The suspect, 41, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 21 years. He was paroled on January 5, 1942, but as he left Brushy Mountain Penitentiary, he was confronted by a U.S. Marshall who took him into custody and transported him to Leavenworth to serve a 5 year sentence for violating the prohibition law. In 1953, he was sentenced to a year in prison after he shot at a Tennessee state trooper a year earlier, who stopped him for careless and reckless driving. He was paroled after serving four months, but on November 6, 1954, he was returned to prison for violating his parole. He was ordered to serve the remaining eight months for driving without a license. On February 7, 1957, he was shot and killed by his son.

Deputy Marshal Hughett was a United States Army veteran. He was survived by his wife. His father had served as the sheriff of the Scott County Sheriff's Office (Tennessee). He was survived by his wife and son.