J. W. Edwards

Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office — Monroe, LA

Accident

End of Watch May 29, 1895

The Vigil Panel 13 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 5

Incident

Deputies J.W. Edwards and Baxter Willis were both shot and fatally wounded when they mistook each other for a suspect they were searching for.

Both deputies, along with a railroad special agent and another deputy, were searching for a man who had fired a gun at a freight train several nights earlier. The officers had split up into two groups and searched the woods for several hours.

At around dusk the two groups encountered each other. Deputy Willis was standing on the railroad tracks when Deputy Edwards saw him, but did not recognize him. Deputy Edwards ordered him to raise his hands and then opened fire as he turned towards him.

Thinking he was being fired upon by the suspect, Deputy Willis returned the fire, striking Deputy Edwards. Deputy Edwards was killed instantly. Deputy Willis died as a result of his wounds three weeks later.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife and child.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-LA-61A00EF0
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Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

131 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Deputy Sheriff Edwards served with the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Monroe community. Gone but never to be forgotten.

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

Agency

Department Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office

Location Monroe, LA

Platform Identity opso.ouachita.la.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 29, 1895

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff J. W. Edwards 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 LA, 180 of 595 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.7 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office, 3 of 6 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.

Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office

of 6 officers

50% Accident

LA — Statewide

180

of 595 officers

30.3% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident