Cleo Meeks, Deputy Sheriff
Fred Hollingsworth, Deputy Sheriff
Washita County Sheriff's Office
The morning of Monday, July 12, 1915, Deputy Hollingsworth, 40, led a posse of local citizens in search of a suspect in the burglary of the Herring & Young general merchandise store in Clinton a couple nights before. A .38 revolver was taken in the burglary. The posse spread out and were to meet every few miles to compare progress. When Deputy Hollingsworth failed to show up at one of the meeting places, a search began. The deputy’s dead body was found about 11 A.M. eleven miles southwest of Clinton. He had been shot in the heart with the same .38 revolver taken in the burglary. Later that night Robert Miller was arrested in Elk City. Deputy Hollingsworth was survived by his wife.
Cleo Meeks, Deputy Sheriff
Washita County Sheriff's Office
Deputy Meeks, 54, had been a Washita County Deputy Sheriff almost 12 years on Saturday, October 21, 1967. About 8 P.M. that evening he was assisting Kiowa County Deputy Sheriff Virgil Weitner in serving an arrest warrant on Michael Caldwell, 19, for narcotics. As the Deputies approached the Caldwell house the young man’s father, Sid Caldwell, opened fire on the deputies, wounding both. Deputy Meeks was shot in the head and chest. Young Michael Caldwell dragged the wounded deputy to safety and called police and medical Assistance but he died before help could arrive. Deputy Weitner survived his wounds. Sid Caldwell was arrested for the deputy’s murder.
Clifford Phillip Payne, Deputy Sheriff
Washita County Sheriffs Office
On Saturday, June 18, 1977, Deputy Clifford Payne and undercover narcotics agent, John Smith, were shot by the stepfather of Dean Melton, 17, as they tried to arrest the youth on a marijuana charge at his home about 1:30 a.m. Melton’s stepfather, John Eakin, fired five rounds from a snub-nosed .38-caliber pistol, fatally wounding Payne through the neck and striking Smith in the chin and left hand. Eakin was wounded in the side by Smith who fired from the doorway of the residence as Smith was seeking cover. Melton fled out the back door when the shooting began. He surrendered to authorities about 9:30 a.m. after a massive eight-hour search of the Burns Flat industrial district.
Eakin was arrested and charged with murdering Deputy Payne. Eakin testified that he thought Deputy Payne was an armed intruder in his home that night and cited the fact that Payne had a beard and long hair. The prosecution countered that Deputy Payne was dressed in uniform. On October 20, Eakin was acquitted by a jury. Deputy Payne was survived by his wife and three sons.
William H. Singletary,
Deputy Sheriff
Washita County, O. T.
On Saturday, May 6, 1899, Deputy Singletary attempted to subdue a drunken cattleman, Sid Davidson, to quell a disturbance in Combs. Davidson shot the deputy fatally and escaped. After dodging officers for several months, Davidson finally surrendered himself but died from pneumonia before his trial began. Deputy Singletary’s wife had died two years earlier from blood poisoning after childbirth. He was buried beside her next to a lilac bush on the southeast corner of a crossroads at the top of a hill four miles west of Sentinel. He was survived by four sons and a daughter.