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Trooper

Raymond Earl Worley

North Carolina Highway Patrol — Raleigh, NC

Felonious

End of Watch May 14, 1985

Age 44

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Badge A-147

The Vigil Panel 129 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 68

Incident

Trooper Raymond Worley was shot and killed after stopping a van. During the stop he placed the driver of the vehicle in his patrol car. A second van then pulled up at the scene and the driver of that van approached Trooper Worley. He then produced a handgun and shot Trooper Worley. The man turned out to be the brother of the person Trooper Worley had detained. The two were driving vans filled with stolen property from a grocery store they had broken into in Pender County. The suspects fled the scene after shooting Trooper Worley. When state highway patrol dispatchers could not raise him by radio, a DMV officer from the I-95 weigh station was dispatched to respond for backup. The responding officer found him dead at the scene. Four suspects were ultimately arrested after a manhunt involving over 500 state, local and federal officers from North Carolina and Virginia. Three were convicted of accessory to murder and possession of stolen property. The shooter, 30, was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death on December 5th, 1985. The death sentence was overturned by a U.S. Circuit court in February 2003. His sentence was commuted to life in prison on July 20th, 2006. As of June 10, 2023, he remains in prison. The other three suspects were sentenced to 9 to 10 years. One was released from prison on October 1st, 1990. The other two were released on Febuary 9th, 1992, and September 13th, 1993. Trooper Worley had served with the North Carolina Highway Patrol for 23 years and was assigned to Troop A in Halifax County.

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Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

23 years. You could have gone home.
Trooper Worley gave the North Carolina Highway Patrol 23 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the people of North Carolina. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Trooper Worley.

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

Agency

Department North Carolina Highway Patrol

Type Highway Patrol

Location Raleigh, NC

Platform Identity nchp.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch May 14, 1985

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Age 44

Badge Number A-147

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Raymond is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 1985, 99 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 52nd heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Raymond was 44. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Raymond had served 23 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

May holds 8% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Tuesdays: 13.4%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded