Sergeant David Lee Lilly

David Lee Lilly

Sergeant David Lilly was shot and killed during a traffic stop at the intersection of Route 19/21 bypass and New Raleigh Road (present-day South Fayette Street) shortly before midnight.

While Sergeant Lilly spoke with the driver of the vehicle, he was shot twice by the man, who was armed with a .32 caliber pistol. The man, who had been suspected of being involved in the robbery of a coin store earlier in the day, fled the scene in the officer's patrol car.

The suspect was apprehended in Wayne, New Jersey, twelve days later. He was returned to West Virginia, found guilty of first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison. On November 7, 1979, the suspect and several other prisoners escaped from the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville. During the escape attempt, the suspect shot and killed Trooper Philip Kesner, of the West Virginia State Police, using a gun stolen from a prison guard during the escape.

The suspect was on the run for two years until being arrested in New York City following a shootout with federal agents. While evading authorities, the suspect murdered an elderly man in Arizona. He was returned to West Virginia to complete several life sentences. In Arizona, he received the death penalty. As of June 15, 2023, the man, now 80, was being held at the Mount Olive Correctional Complex.

Sergeant Lilly was a United States Army Vietnam War veteran and had served with the Beckley Police Department for 6.5 years. He was survived by his wife and child.