Constable John Clayton Billings

John Clayton Billings

Constable John Billings was shot and killed from ambush while walking on a street in La Feria, Texas.

Constable Billings had been active in arresting bootleggers during prohibition. He was shot multiple times by two men armed with shotguns who then fled the scene in an automobile.

One of the men was arrested by Mexican authorities after fleeing over the border. The second subject was arrested by a United States Border Patrol inspector who obtained a confession that he had been involved in Constable Billings' murder. On January 10th, 1927, the subject and three other prisoners escaped from the Cameron County Jail. The man who murdered Constable Billings remained at large until February 3rd, 1928, when he was shot and killed in a shootout with the same Border Patrol inspector who had originally arrested him.

Constable Billings had served as the elected constable of Cameron County's Precinct 7 for just under two years. He was survived by his wife.