Angela K. Payne
Deputy Sheriff

Angela K. Payne

Knox County Sheriff's Dept. — Knoxville, TN
Accident
End of Watch February 26, 2000
Age 31
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
The Vigil Panel 147 ›
Gender Female

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Angela Payne was killed after she was struck by a vehicle while she was investigating a shooting call on Byington-Beaver Ridge Road in Knoxville.

She and another officer had responded to a business when the sheriff's department received a 911 call about a possible shooting around 1:40 a.m. Because there was no shoulder on the road, both officers parked in the northbound lane of the two-lane road with emergency lights activated. While standing in the southbound lane, both officers were struck from behind by another driver. They were transported by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where Deputy Payne remained on life support until her organs could be donated. The second officer was admitted in critical condition.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-1774C829
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Payne gave the Knox County Sheriff's Office 3 years.
Thank you for your service to the Knoxville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Payne.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Knoxville, TN
Platform Identity kcso.knox.tn.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 26, 2000
Tour of Duty 3 yrs
Age 31
Gender Female

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff Angela K. Payne is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TN, 191 of 769 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 24.8% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Knox County Sheriff's Dept., 3 of 11 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.3% of this agency's fallen.

Knox County Sheriff's Dept.
3
of 11 officers
27.3% Accident
TN — Statewide
191
of 769 officers
24.8% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Angela K. Payne's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Angela K. Payne Compares

Age at End of Watch
31
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
3
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Angela K. Payne is highlighted in Feb.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897