Mississippi post office named for 3 officers killed on duty

Published 7:36 am Sunday, January 3, 2021

A post office in Brookhaven, Mississippi, will be named for three local law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty.

President Donald Trump signed a law Dec. 21 to name the “Deputy Donald William Durr, Corporal Zach Moak and Patrolman James White Memorial Post Office Building.”

Durr was a Lincoln County deputy sheriff who was shot to death in May 2017 while responding to a disturbance at a home. Seven other people were shot to death that night. In early 2020, a jury convicted Willie Cory Godbolt in all of the killings, and he was sentenced to death.

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Moak and White worked for the Brookhaven Police Department. They were shot to death in September 2018 while responding to reports of shots being fired in a neighborhood. Marquis Flowers has pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges, and he remains in custody while awaiting trial.

“Brookhaven is my home, and the loss of these officers continues to break the hearts of so many in our community,” U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said in a news release.

Hyde-Smith, Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep. Michael Guest worked on the legislation to name the post office for the officers.
“Mississippi respects our law enforcement officers, and we are grateful for the risk they take on in the line of duty,” Guest said.

“For this reason, it’s important to commemorate those we’ve lost in remembrance of their sacrifice.”

Wicker said naming the post office for Durr, Moak and White is a fitting tribute.

“Every single day, our law enforcement officers risk their lives to protect and serve their communities,” Wicker said. “I hope this renaming will serve as a powerful reminder of all those men and women who wear the badge.”