On the night of October 16, 1979, 22-year-old Patrolman Daniel Lee Hay of the Maysville Police Department was shot and killed while investigating a burglary at a local grocery store. Hay, a White/Caucasian officer who had been with the department 18 months and had dreamed of police work since childhood, was killed at the scene when the assailant fled through an air duct.

The shooter was identified as Gary Wayne Wilson. Following an investigation, Wilson was captured, tried and convicted for Patrolman Hay’s murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The officer’s death remains the first and only time a Maysville police officer was killed in the line of duty. Hay’s parents and colleagues remembered him as a devoted, enthusiastic young officer, and the community later honored his memory with memorials and by naming a highway and a skatepark after him.

If anyone knew Patrolman Hay, his family, or has information about the case, please share what can help preserve his memory or assist ongoing inquiries.