UPDATE: thanks to one of my Twitter followers I have information to add to the case. I am still working on getting sharp screenshots from old newspaper articles. Many papers have their archives hidden behind a pay wall, alas. But here is the text:
Harris County Deputy Sheriff Edward “Edd”Williams was off duty when he was shot dead during a holdup at an apartment manager’s office. He was shot in the head and died in local hospital. He was only 34 years old.
“I have been shot in a robbery, I can’t breathe.” Williams told hospital personnel before he died.
Williams, a night jailer for the Sheriff’s department, had an extra job securing the apartments. He was in the office around noon when two young men came in. Manager John Mitchell said the men were armed and demanded money. They took $600 from Mitchell’s wallet and an unknown amount from Williams. Mitchell said that one of the robbers searched Williams and saw his badge. That’s when Williams lunged for him but got shot in the face.
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Harris County Deputy Sherrif Edward “Edd” Williams was killed on January 12, 1974 during a robbery at the Victoria Manor Apartments (830 Victoria Drive, Houston, Texas).
The two suspects in the case at that time were black men probably in their early 20s. Deputy Sheriff Williams left behind a wife – now deceased – and his then six-year-old son Yancy.
I have tried to find more information about this officer but have not been able to find anything in the public domain. If you have any links to newspaper articles let me know so we can update this post. He needs a better web presence if we ever wish to get the word out that his case is still unsolved.
Rewards
- A $20,000 reward is offered for information that results in the case being solved, officials said. The case was the first to be featured under a new program that was announced last year. This new programs is the Fallen Hero Reward-Texas Remembers program. It is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division. It aims to generate leads in cases of law enforcement officers and first responders who were killed or seriously injured in the line of duty or while acting in an official capacity.
- Texas Crime Stoppers is also offering a cash reward to anyone whose information leads to the arrest of the person/persons responsible for this crime. To be eligible, tipsters MUST call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). All tips are anonymous. Tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
- Information on this case may also be submitted in the following way: submit a tip on the Texas Rangers’ Cold Case website or call 1-800-346-3243 (DPS Missing Persons Hotline). Your information will be forwarded to the Texas Ranger assigned to this case.
Thank you for remembering Harris County Deputy Sherrif Edward “Edd”Williams with us.