Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood honored Starkville Police Department Sgt. Bill Lott on Tuesday for his work in helping to solve the 1990 Labor Day Murders case.
Lott received the Amy Clayton Justice Achievement Award, which recognized his long work on solving the murders of 65-year-old Betty Jones and 81-year-old Kathryn Crigler.
The two women were attacked on Sept. 3, 1990. Jones died at the scene and Crigler died at the hospital weeks later from her injuries. Their case was, for years, Starkville’s oldest cold case.
Lott began working on the case in 1998 and continued through 2009, when he left SPD for military service in Afghanistan. He resumed working on the case — on his own time, for free — through its conclusion after he returned to SPD in 2013.
In October, SPD arrested Michael Wayne Devaughn, of Rienzi, for capital murder and sexual battery in the case. Devaughn was identified through a DNA sample. He’s since been indicted and pleaded not guilty to his charges in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court.
Lott was also honored for his work on the case in November, when he was named a Modern Woodmen Hometown Hero in recognition of his persistence.
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