Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Richard Ashley, Sergeant Anthony Futrell of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and Major Robert Kennedy of the Boone Police Department, were killed in an airplane accident while searching for marijuana crops in Chowan County at 3:30 pm.
Approximately 90 minutes into the second flight of the day, the Cessna 172-S experienced problems and crashed. Witnesses on the ground heard the engine sputter and saw the plane nose dive into the ground. There were no radio messages from the pilots indicating any problems.
Sergeant Futrell and Major Kennedy, both members of the Civil Air Patrol, were piloting the aircraft and acting as spotters. Deputy Ashley was directing ground units to locations spotted during the flight for further investigation.
Deputy Ashley had been employed with the Chowan County Sheriff's Office for only 16 months, and is survived by his wife and two teenage sons. He lived less then one mile from the crash site.
Survivors
Deputy Ashley had been employed with the Chowan County Sheriff's Office for only 16 months, and is survived by his wife and two teenage sons.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-CB276077- 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
You barely got started.
Deputy Sheriff Ashley gave the Chowan County Sheriff's Office 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Edenton community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Ashley.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Richard Edward Ashley, Sr. 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 NC, 205 of 664 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30.9% of this state's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Richard Edward Ashley, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Richard Edward Ashley, Sr. Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Richard Edward Ashley, Sr. is highlighted in Jul.