Darkhorse Press announces inaugural Blue Shield Award winners at Big Buck Bounty breakfast

MISSISSIPPI — Darkhorse Press presented its inaugural Blue Shield Awards Saturday morning at a breakfast ceremony held in conjunction with Digio Strategies’ Big Buck Bounty, recognizing five Mississippi cases and the officers whose acts of courage, compassion, and dedication exemplify the best of public service.

The awards were given by Darkhorse Press, The Legend 93.5, and Rock 93.1, and sponsored by Southern Connection Police Supplies. Darkhorse Press Executive Editor Therese Apel presented each award to the honorees.

“Heroism is hard to encapsulate because it looks like so many different things,” Apel said. “But one thing it always looks like is selflessness. Each of these five honorees showed that in a different way, and every one of them deserves to be recognized.”

 

The following officers were named as the 2025 Blue Shield Award recipients:

Deputy Martin Luther Shields, Jr. — Hinds County Sheriff’s Department (Posthumous)

The Blue Shield Award was presented posthumously to Deputy Martin Luther Shields, Jr., 37, who was killed in the line of duty in February 2025.

Shields responded to a domestic call to escort a woman and her friend to a home to retrieve belongings. Officials 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 also shot but survived. Brown subsequently took his own life.

Shields had previously served with the Jackson Police Department, where he received the department’s “I Am The City of Jackson” award for saving a life. Colleagues described him as dependable, courageous, and deeply committed to the communities he served.

He is survived by his wife, Kristian, and his daughter, Aubrey.

At a celebration of life held at the Jackson Revival Center, Gov. Tate Reeves said Shields “represents the best of Mississippi” and told his family, “We are all safer because of him and his courage.” Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said Shields treated public service not as a job but as a calling, and told Aubrey Shields she is “destined for greatness.”

“We cannot give you back what was taken from you. But we can stand here and say, in front of everyone in this room, that what Martin did matters. That it will not be forgotten,” Apel said. “That Darkhorse Press, and every partner whose name is on this award, is committed to making sure Mississippi knows who Martin Luther Shields, Jr. was.”

The award was accepted by Shields’ mother, Marcie Levy, and other members of his family, on behalf of the Martin Luther Shields Jr. Memorial Foundation.

 

Sgt. Brian Brock — DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department

Brock, 35, was honored for an act of selfless heroism on Interstate 269 in which he deliberately drove his patrol vehicle into the path of a wrong-way driver to protect other motorists.

Reports came in that a vehicle was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes at high speed. As other deputies pursued from behind, Brock was positioned ahead of the oncoming car. When he saw the headlights approaching from the wrong direction, he made a decision that DeSoto County Sheriff Thomas Tuggle said should have cost Brock his life.

“Then he said these words that should be remembered as long as people in this state talk about the meaning of courage: ‘This is it for me, but I’m going to do it,'” Apel said. “Then he drove his patrol vehicle head-on into the path of the oncoming car.”

The driver directly behind Brock, a physician, was shielded from the collision. Brock sustained serious injuries but survived. Tuggle called his survival a miracle given the condition of the vehicle.

Brock is a husband and father of four children, all under the age of 14.

 

The Shondra May Cold Case Task Force 

The third Blue Shield Award was presented as a group honor to the task force of retired and active investigators from central Mississippi who worked together to close one of the state’s longest-running cold cases.

Shondra May, 17, disappeared in February 1986 after leaving her shift at McDonald’s. Her body was recovered 22 days later near Bolton in Hinds County. The case went unsolved for nearly four decades despite persistent investigative efforts.

Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee, who was 16 years old when May disappeared, came into office resolved to find an answer. Retired Rankin County Detective Greg Eklund had presented the case to a class at the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy and they had given the case fresh eyes.

This led to a group of retired investigators who began a renewed effort to solve the case. Working with active investigators from Scott County, the group built the case that led to the arrest of Rubin Weeks, who had been among the original suspects in the case and was convicted of a strikingly similar crime in Missouri in 1991.

Weeks was arrested in 2025, nearly 39 years after May’s disappearance.

The award was accepted by Lee, Eklund, and retired investigator Michael Frazier.

 

Officer Kenneth Cole Morgan — Pearl Police Department

Morgan, a K9 officer with the Pearl Police Department, was recognized for his work in steering a young woman battling opioid addiction toward recovery rather than simply processing her through the criminal justice system.

Pearl officers responded three times in a single week to a home where a woman in her early 20s had overdosed on fentanyl. On the third call, narcotics investigators charged her with possession of a controlled substance. Morgan, drawing on connections from his time in Alabama, secured her a spot in a residential recovery program.

On his day off, joined by his 5-year-old son and fellow investigators, he met the woman at the Rankin County Jail following her release and helped reunite her with her mother, who drove her to North Alabama for treatment.

The woman completed the program, and Morgan and several investigators traveled four hours to attend her graduation. She has since chosen to remain at the facility an additional year as a sponsor to others entering recovery. Program leaders say she is on track to earn certifications in addiction support.

Pearl Police Department Chief Nick McLendon submitted a commendation letter on Morgan’s behalf, noting his “professionalism, integrity, and commitment” and describing him as “a valuable asset” to the department and the community.

Officer Grant Holley — Horn Lake Police Department

Holley, a member of the Horn Lake Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team, was recognized for two separate incidents in which he used de-escalation skills to safely disarm individuals in mental health crises.

In the first incident, officers were called to a home where a woman reported her brother had a handgun and was threatening to harm himself. Holley arrived to find the man in the kitchen with the weapon. After approximately 15 minutes of sustained conversation, Holley convinced the man to put the gun down. The man was later transported for professional mental health treatment.

Ten months earlier, Holley had responded to a nearly identical situation, again successfully de-escalating a subject in crisis and ensuring the individual received the help he needed.

Horn Lake PD noted in a public statement that the calls were “handled with grace and compassion” and credited Holley’s specialized training as central to both outcomes.

Holley was unable to attend the ceremony, and will receive his award in coming weeks.