William Jackson Carnley

Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Dept — Nacogdoches, TX

Felonious

End of Watch May 16, 1918

Age 40

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

The Vigil Panel 34 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 5

Incident

Deputy Jackson Carnley was shot and killed when he and the sheriff went to a farm looking for a man who had caused a disturbance at a Red Cross meeting. When the deputies arrived at the farm Deputy Carnley located the suspect hiding in the bushes. The suspect immediately opened fire with a double-barreled shotgun, striking Deputy Carnley in the face. Deputy Carnley was able to fire one shot and the sheriff also returned fire, but did not strike the suspect. Orange Escow led the scene. During the manhunt, D. Brown, a cousin of Carnley who was deputized, shot and killed Orange's brother, Alex. Brown was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison. Unknown if Orange Escow was ever prosecuted.

Deputy Carnley was survived by his daughter and had been with the agency for four years. He was buried in the Swift Cemetery in Nacogdoches County.

Survivors

Deputy Carnley was survived by his daughter and had been with the agency for four years.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-DFFC0870
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 Carnley gave the Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Office 4 years.
Thank you for your service to the Nacogdoches community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Carnley.

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

Agency

Department Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Dept

Location Nacogdoches, TX

Platform Identity ncso.nacogdoches.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 16, 1918

Tour of Duty 4 yrs

Age 40

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Gunfire

Weapon Shotgun

Deputy Sheriff William Jackson Carnley is one of 17,623 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 54.2% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In TX, 1,463 of 2,421 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 60.4% of this state's fallen. That is 6.2 percentage points above the national rate of 54.2%.

At Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Dept, 5 of 6 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 83.3% of this agency's fallen.

Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Dept

of 6 officers

83.3% Felonious

TX — Statewide

1,463

of 2,421 officers

60.4% Felonious

Nationwide

17,623

of 32,508 officers

54.2% Felonious