Iris Janett Smith

Mississippi Department of Corrections — Jackson, MS

Accident

End of Watch May 25, 2015

Age 53

Tour of Duty 14 yrs 7 mo

The Vigil Panel 164 ›

Gender Female

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 8

Incident

Sergeant Iris Smith was killed in a vehicle collision at approximately 3:15 pm when the prisoner transport van she was driving collided with the back of a tractor trailer on U.S. 49, at J M Tatum Industrial Drive, in Hattiesburg.

She was following an ambulance that was transporting an inmate to a local hospital when the crash occurred.

Sergeant Smith had served with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for 15 years and was assigned to the South Mississippi Correctional Institution.

Survivors

She is survived by her daughter, mother, brother, and a grandson.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-MS-B3AB3B70
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.
Sergeant Smith gave the Mississippi Department of Corrections 14 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Mississippi. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Smith.

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

Agency

Department Mississippi Department of Corrections

Location Jackson, MS

Platform Identity mdcorr.hinds.ms.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 25, 2015

Tour of Duty 14 yrs 7 mo

Age 53

Gender Female

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Sergeant Iris Janett Smith 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 MS, 89 of 349 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 25.5% of this state's fallen. That is 5.5 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Mississippi Department of Corrections, 2 of 9 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 22.2% of this agency's fallen.

Mississippi Department of Corrections

of 9 officers

22.2% Accident

MS — Statewide

of 349 officers

25.5% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident