6 Arkansans set to join memorial
394 fallen officers to be added to monument in Washington
WASHINGTON — At the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, 394 more names have been carved into the marble, including six Arkansans who died in the line of duty.
Tonight, thousands will gather for a candlelight vigil on the National Mall. During the Roll Call of Fallen Heroes, each of those who died will be remembered.
In 2016, 143 officers died in the line of duty, memorial officials say. The others are fallen officers from prior years whose sacrifice had not yet been recognized.
Three of the Arkansans died in 2016.
William Pressley Cooper, 66, a corporal with the Sebastian County sheriff ’s office, was shot and killed Aug. 10 while responding to a domestic violence call.
Robert Aaron Barker, 26, was a McCrory police officer. While responding to a pre-dawn call on Sept. 15, he struck a deer and was fatally injured.
Lisa Anne Mauldin, 47, was a corrections officer with the Miller County sheriff’s office. She died Dec. 18 after being attacked by an inmate.
The three other Arkansans died more than a century ago.
James Matt Lawrence, a night marshal in Osceola, was shot and fatally wounded on Oct. 1, 1910. He had gone “to quiet trouble in a dance hall near the river,” according to a century-old Arkansas Gazette account.
Barney Stiel, a deputy with the Pulaski County sheriff’s office, was killed Sept. 26, 1911, in a shootout with outlaws near Dumas. Stiel, who was in Desha County to visit a relative, had joined a posse that was attempting to serve warrants on the men. The ringleader of the group was eventually captured and lynched, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
Gilbert Byrd Burchfield, a Saline County deputy, was attempting to serve legal papers in Union Township. He was shot and killed on July 15, 1847.
Researchers for the memorial learned about Burchfield’s death while researching another case last year, spotting a story about it in The Daily National Whig, a short-lived Washington, D.C., newspaper.
They reached out to Saline County sheriff’s Lt. Ron Parsons, who helped them track down additional information about Burchfield’s life and death.
A representative of the Saline County sheriff’s office will be on hand for tonight’s ceremony, Parsons said.
The agency also put up a plaque that pays tribute to Burchfield, he added.
“For over 150 years, he had been forgotten about, and that just wasn’t right,” Parsons said. “Thank goodness we found him and he won’t be forgotten again.”