Oneal Moore (April 23, 1931 ? June 2, 1965) was the first African-American deputy sheriff for the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office in Varnado, Louisiana . He was murdered on June 2, 1965, by alleged members of the Ku Klux Klan in a drive-by shooting , one year and a day after his landmark appointment as deputy sheriff. An Army veteran, he was 34 years old, married, and the father of four daughters.

Events [ edit ]

The evening of June 2, 1965, Moore was driving home from work when an individual in a pickup truck shot at him and his partner, David Creed Rogers, another African-American deputy sheriff. Moore lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree, dying instantly from a gunshot wound to the head. ^[1] Rogers suffered injuries, including to one eye, but survived the shooting and crash; he immediately broadcast a description of the vehicle, which he noted had a Confederate flag decal on its front bumper. ^[2]

Two suspects were arrested in Mississippi not long afterward. One was Ernest Ray McElveen, a known white supremacist . McElveen was represented by Baton Rouge, Louisiana , attorney Osier Brown. He later also represented the two men charged with Clarence Triggs ' murder the following year in 1966. ^[3] The police filed no charges due to a lack of evidence and witnesses. ^[4]

The cold case was reopened by the FBI several times, first in 1990, then in 2001 and 2007, but they did not bring indictments. ^[4] McElveen, the prime suspect in the case, died in 2003.

The Deacons for Defense and Justice , an African-American group with a chapter organized in 1965 in Bogalusa, Louisiana , among other chapters, to protect civil rights workers, provided armed protection and support for Moore's widow and family. ^[5]

See also [ edit ]

• List of unsolved murders

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• "Deputy Sheriff Oneal Moore, Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, Louisiana" . The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc . Retrieved 22 October 2021 .