On the early morning of October 7, 1988, 40-year-old James William Lance Jr., a lieutenant with the Southaven Police Department in Mississippi, was killed in the line of duty. Lance stopped a vehicle on Goodman Road around 1:30 a.m.; the car matched the description of one tied to several armed robberies in Memphis. While Lance was handcuffing the male passenger, the female driver exited and opened fire, striking him multiple times. He returned fire but did not hit the shooter and died about thirty minutes later at a local hospital. This was the Southaven Police Department’s first line-of-duty fatality.

Two suspects were arrested after the shooting: Lawrence Kirby Payne and Susie Ann Balfour. Payne pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder and, as a habitual offender, received a 20-year sentence. Balfour was convicted of capital murder and initially sentenced to death; that sentence was later overturned and she was resentenced to life in prison. The killing left Lance’s wife and four children and the Southaven community grieving.