TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A board of supervisors in north Mississippi is requesting that the state Legislature dedicate stretches of highway to a former sheriff and Korean and Vietnam war veterans.
Under the proposal, the intersection of Auburn Road and Interstate 22 would memorialize late Lee County sheriff Harold Ray Presley. The proposed designation is the “Harold Ray Presley Memorial Interchange," The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports.
Presley was shot and killed on July 6, 2001 during a search for a suspected kidnapper, Billy Ray Stone. A tip led Presley and a deputy to a home, where authorities say he was shot multiple times by Stone. Stone was also killed, and two deputies faced federal civil rights charges accusing them of stomping and beating Stone while he was handcuffed. The deputies were acquitted.
Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley said the highway designation would be a fitting honor for his uncle, Harold Ray Presley.
“He was killed in the line of duty in a pursuit that began at that intersection," he said.
The portion of Interstate 22 between exits 81 and 87 would be designated as “Korean Veterans Highway,” and the section between exits 87 and 94 would be named “Vietnam Veterans Way.”
The memorials require approval from the state Legislature.
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