Jackson County Sheriff’s Department honors officer killed in the line of duty

Ocean Springs, Miss. (WXXV)- The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department honored the fallen with an annual ceremony Thursday.

Officers spent the afternoon at Bellande Cemetery in Ocean Springs, paying tribute to Sgt. Ernest F. Beaugez. He was killed in the line of duty in 1954.

The sergeant was opening a cell in the Pascagoula Jail when a suspect overpowered, disarmed, and kidnapped him.

Sergeant Beaugez was found murdered by his own gun a few hours later.

“He paid the ultimate sacrifice even though this happened in 1954, which is 70 years ago that his legacy still lives on,” said Ocean Springs Chief of Police Steven Dye. “He put on the uniform everyday to serve this community and like I said, he ultimately paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life doing that. So it’s very important that we remember every officer that’s been killed in the line of duty or injured in the line of duty.”

Sergeant Beaugez was a United States Army veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He had served with the Ocean Springs Police Department for two years at the time of his death.