Deputy Sheriff James Clayton "Clay" Collier

James Clayton "Clay" Collier

Deputy Sheriff Clay Collier succumbed to a gunshot wound while attempting to arrest a subject who had broken into a blacksmith shop at 6:30 pm in Oktaha.

Deputy Collier caught a man crouching in the shop. While searching the man, Deputy Collier told him to leave the area. The subject had previously been caught robbing a home in the area and was told that if he left, he would not be arrested. Instead, the man spun around, shot Deputy Collier in the neck, and fled.

Deputy Collier was transported to the city hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds the next day.

The subject was arrested a few weeks later and confessed to the shooting. Deputy Collier's wife, based on the wishes of her husband, pleaded with the court to give him life in prison rather than the death penalty.

Deputy Collier was survived by his wife, three sons, and three daughters.