B. Cowart

Investigator B. Cowart suffered a fatal heart attack after being assaulted by a prisoner at the Clay County Jail.

He was assisting West Point police officers with a civil rights march of students at Mississippi State University and was searching for a student who had been arrested for blocking a sidewalk. The student suddenly spun around, grabbed Investigator Cowart, and pushed him to the ground. Investigator Cowart suffered a heart attack and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The student was charged with manslaughter, but the charges were later dismissed.

Investigator Cowart was a United States Army World War II veteran and had served with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety for 19 years.