Sergeant Charles B. Kubala Sr., 32, of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office was shot and killed on the evening of February 26, 1996, after responding to a report of a suspicious person. A veteran officer and mentor in the Sheriff’s Office Explorer program, Kubala confronted the subject of the call and was struck once in the ear and once in the shoulder by a .22 caliber handgun. The injuries were immediately fatal.

Officers conducted a search that led them to a nearby wooded area where the suspect, Bobby Wayne Stone, was found hiding and taken into custody; he was in possession of the handgun used in the shooting. Stone was charged with murder, tried, and a jury convicted him of the capital offense. In January 1997 he was sentenced to death and remained on death row as appeals proceeded.

Anyone who knew Sergeant Kubala, his work with the Explorer program, or has information about the events of February 26, 1996 is asked to come forward.