William Ricky Hudson

Ben Hill County Sheriff's Dept. — Fitzgerald, GA

Accident

End of Watch February 22, 1990

Age 31

Tour of Duty 5 yrs

The Vigil Panel 135 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 3

Incident

Deputy William Hudson was killed in a vehicle crash resulting from a vehicle pursuit.

Deputy Hudson was pursuing a shooting suspect at 1:13 am. He was attempting to stop at an intersection when his patrol car skidded 26 feet into a tractor-trailer. The vehicle being pursued did not contain the shooting suspect that officers believed they were chasing.

The suspect, however, was apprehended the next day. The man committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell two weeks after his guilty plea.

Deputy Hudson had served with the Ben Hill County Sheriff's Office for over five years.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, four children, and parents.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-GA-8EF23F2C
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 Hudson gave the Ben Hill County Sheriff's Office 5 years.
Thank you for your service to the Fitzgerald community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Hudson.

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

Agency

Department Ben Hill County Sheriff's Dept.

Location Fitzgerald, GA

Platform Identity bhcso.benhill.ga.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 22, 1990

Tour of Duty 5 yrs

Age 31

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Weapon Automobile

Offender Committed suicide

Deputy Sheriff William Ricky Hudson 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 GA, 263 of 903 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Ben Hill County Sheriff's Dept., 1 of 4 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25% of this agency's fallen.

Ben Hill County Sheriff's Dept.

of 4 officers

25% Accident

GA — Statewide

263

of 903 officers

29.1% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident