MISSISSIPPI — Darkhorse Press presented its inaugural Blue Shield Awards Saturday at a breakfast held with Digio Strategies’ Big Buck Bounty, honoring five Mississippi cases and the officers whose acts of courage, compassion and dedication exemplify public service. The awards were given by Darkhorse Press, The Legend 93.5 and Rock 93.1 and sponsored by Southern Connection Police Supplies. Executive Editor Therese Apel presented each award and said, “Heroism is hard to encapsulate because it looks like so many different things. But one thing it always looks like is selflessness.”
The Blue Shield Award was presented posthumously to Deputy Martin Luther Shields Jr., 37, of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department. Shields was killed in the line of duty in February 2025 after responding to a domestic call, officials said. Authorities said the responding officers were ambushed by the woman’s husband, Eric Brown, 42, who opened fire with a fully automatic weapon; Shields was killed, the two women were shot and survived, and Brown subsequently took his own life.
Apel said Shields’ actions “matter” and would not be forgotten. Gov. Tate Reeves praised Shields at a celebration of life, saying Shields “represents the best of Mississippi.” Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said Shields treated public service as a calling. The award was accepted by Shields’ mother, Marcy Levy, and other family members on behalf of the Martin Luther Shields Jr. Memorial Foundation.
Sgt. Brian Brock, 35, of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department received an award for intentionally driving his patrol vehicle into the path of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 269 to protect other motorists. Apel recounted Brock’s words to fellow deputies: “This is it for me, but I’m going to do it.” Brock survived with serious injuries; Sheriff Thomas Tuggle called his survival a miracle. Brock is a husband and father of four children under the age of 14.
A group award honored the Shondra May Cold Case Task Force for closing a nearly 39-year-old case after Shondra May disappeared in February 1986 and her body was found 22 days later. The renewed investigation led to the 2025 arrest of Rubin Weeks, who had been an original suspect and was convicted in a similar 1991 Missouri case, officials said. Individual awards recognized Officer Kenneth Cole Morgan of the Pearl Police Department for steering a young woman battling opioid addiction into residential treatment, and Officer Grant Holley of the Horn Lake Police Department for two de-escalation incidents involving subjects in mental-health crises. Holley was unable to attend and will receive his award in coming weeks.
