Lieutenant James L. Stokely

James L. Stokely

Lieutenant James Stokely succumbed to a gunshot wound in his neck, sustained 16 months earlier when he and other officers attempted to arrest one of two brothers near his home in the city's East Liberty Neighborhood who were accused of stealing and butchering livestock inside and outside the city of Pittsburgh.

Starting in November 1875, more than 50 cows went missing from local farms in the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding municipalities. On February 22, 1876, a resident of Braddocks Field (present-day Braddock Borough) discovered one of his cows had been missing and was able to trace the stolen cow through the East Liberty Neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh to a slaughterhouse in Four Mile Run (present-day Greenfield Neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh). The owner of the cow immediately advised the Mayor of Pittsburgh, who then ordered two policemen to watch and investigate the slaughterhouse. While searching the slaughterhouse, the officers discovered the carcass of the stolen cow hanging, with the Hide and Tallow gone. The two owners told them that they do not slaughter cattle; only sheep and hogs. They also identified two brothers who brought the cow to them and had taken the cow's hide. Both owners of the slaughterhouse were arrested when one of the owners resisted arrest and pulled a butcher knife during the arrest, leaving both officers uninjured. While at the police station, the owners of the slaughterhouse revealed the location of one brother living on Penn Avenue in the city's Strip District and a second brother located on Penn Avenue in the city's East Liberty Neighborhood near the city's stockyards (Present-day Fifth Avenue and Penn Avenue). Immediately after receiving the locations of the brothers' homes, two squads of Police Officers were formed to proceed to their respective homes to arrest them simultaneously.

The first squad officers were unsuccessful in locating the first brother at his home in the Strip District. Lieutenant Stockely, who was in charge of the second squad of officers with two regular policemen under him, located the second brother on a set of railroad tracks near his Penn Avenue home (Present-day M.L.K, Jr. East Busway below Penn Avenue Bridge). As Lieutenant Stokely demanded that the subject stop, the subject drew a revolver and fired in their direction, striking Lieutenant Stokely in the head, and the bullet became lodged in his neck. Both officers attached to Lieutenant Stokely did not pursue the subject and immediately rendered aid to him, taking him to a local home where doctors were summoned. Both brothers were arrested by Pittsburgh Police Detectives on February 25, while fleeing a posse on the Greensburg Pike near Crooked Run Road (Present-day North Versailles Township).

Lieutenant Stokely's original condition following the shooting was considered fatal. He died as a result of complications 16 months later, while under doctors' care for several weeks with failing health at his home on Sheridan Avenue in the city's East End. It's unknown if the bullet in his neck was ever found or removed.

The brother who shot Lieutenant Stokely was sentenced on March 13, 1876, to seven years in the Western Penitentiary for felonious assault and battery and additonal one year for larceny and receiving stolen goods. The second brother was sentenced to two years at the Western Penitentiary for larceny and receiving stolen goods.

Lieutenant Stokely was a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War and served with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for six years. Survivors include his wife and two children.

He is buried at Saint Mary's Cemetery in Lawrenceville in an unmarked grave.