By C1 Staff
JACKSON, Miss. — More than 120 years later, a fallen corrections officer’s name will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.
According to MLive, the almost year-long mission of Michigan DOC Officer Jeff Reasoner has come to a successful conclusion with the acknowledgement of fallen CO George Haight, who was poisoned by an inmate over a century ago.
Haight’s name was not listed as an on-duty death, nor did the department even have record of his service.
“That’s been my motivation, to put emphasis on [Haight], and not on the prisoner, who was sensationalized and basically turned into a celebrity,” Reasoner said.
He collected information about Haight and submitted an application to the memorial in December. With help from genealogy experts, Reasoner located Haight’s living relatives so that they could participate in the spring commemoration.
“I think it was wonderful of Mr. Reasoner to carry this through,” Dick Hester, one of Haight’s relatives, said. “He was so persistent in his attempts to learn more about the situation. He became the expert for sure on my great-grandfather’s experience.”
Inmate Robert Irving Latimer was serving a life sentence for shooting dead his mother. He poisoned Haight to flee prison, before being recaptured and serving 45 years beore receiving a pardon. He was never prosecuted for Haight’s death.