Deputy Sheriff Robert Lloyd Cloaninger

Robert Lloyd Cloaninger

Deputy Sheriff Robert Cloaninger was shot and killed near Mayhew as he and two Mooresville policemen attempted to serve a warrant on a man for assault with a deadly weapon.

The suspect resisted arrest, produced a pistol and opened fire. Deputy Cloaninger returned fire, seriously wounding the suspect. As the officers were examining his wounds his brother arrived on the scene and attacked Deputy Cloaninger. As Deputy Cloaninger repelled his attacker, another brother came up and shot him twice in the back. Both brothers fled from the scene and escaped.

The suspect who shot Deputy Cloaninger was apprehended the next day near Davidson. He was convicted of first degree murder and executed in the electric chair September 20, 1920. The suspect who Deputy Cloaninger shot was sentenced to 30 years in prison. On March 28, 1921, he escaped from the state penitentiary and was never recaptured. The third suspect was apprehended in Welsh, West Virginia, March 29, 1923. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison May 27, 1923.