Deputy Joshua Moyers, a 29-year-old Nassau County deputy, was shot during a routine traffic stop near Callahan at about 2:30 a.m. on September 24, 2021. The driver, identified as 35-year-old Patrick McDowell, shot Moyers in the face and back. Moyers was taken to UF Health in Jacksonville and died of his injuries on September 26, 2021.

McDowell fled the scene, prompting a statewide Blue Alert and a multiagency manhunt concentrated around Callahan First Baptist Church. He was arrested five days later and charged with first-degree murder, injuring a police dog, and eight counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The grand jury indicted McDowell; the State Attorney’s Office sought the death penalty. Court testimony described McDowell’s prior military service in Iraq, PTSD, drug addiction, and earlier arrests. McDowell pleaded guilty, and on October 8, 2021, Judge James H. Daniel sentenced him to death.

Moyers’ family, friends, and colleagues gave emotional testimony about him during the proceedings and the community mourned at a funeral held at Callahan First Baptist Church. Does anyone have memories of Deputy Moyers or information about the traffic stop that could help clarify what happened that night?