Robert Patrick McDermon Sr., 35, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and U.S. Army veteran, was shot dead on April 11, 1981, in Baldwin, Florida. He had 11 years with the Highway Patrol and was off-duty while assisting in the search for an escaped prisoner from the Union Correctional Institution. After returning to his cousin’s home on U.S.

Route 90, McDermon and his cousin encountered the escaped convict, who had armed himself with a shotgun and a rifle taken from the residence. Both McDermon and his cousin were fatally shot; the suspect fled, briefly took a neighbor hostage, then surrendered. The suspect, a convicted murderer, was later found guilty of the two killings and was sentenced to death.

McDermon left a wife, a daughter, and a son.