Sheriff Melbourne Lewis

Melbourne Lewis

Sheriff Lewis was shot and killed while responding to reports that a man was walking on North Main Street in Milbank with a .22 caliber rifle. The suspect hid in a shed and opened fire on the sheriff as he searched for him. A service station attendant and a 12-year-old boy were also shot and wounded.

The 31-year-old suspect, an ex-convict, had been out of prison less than 24 hours after serving eight years for burglary. He was convicted of Sheriff Lewis' murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life on December 7, 1943. In 1982 he was the second oldest inmate in the South Dakota Penitentiary.

Sheriff Lewis was survived by four young children, and his wife who was named deputy sheriff by her husband's successor.