Murder of Carl Graham Jr.

On March 20, 2005, Sergeant Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. (March 3, 1968 – March 20, 2005), a state patrol trooper, was fatally shot by Lance Collin Shockley (born January 19, 1977), a suspect in Sergeant Graham's investigation into a deadly car accident. Shockley was arrested three days later for thee fatal hit-and-run, and was subsequently charged with the murder of Sergeant Graham, who officials believe Shockley murdered in a failed attempt to stop the investigation of the accident.

Shockley was found guilty of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death by Carter County Circuit Court Judge David Evans in accordance with Missouri law after jurors deadlocked on a sentence during the penalty phase of the trial. Shockley is currently scheduled to be executed on October 14, 2025.

On the evening of November 26, 2004, Lance Collin Shockley and his sister-in-law's fiancé, Jeffrey Bayless, went for a drive in Bayless's truck, and both men got into an accident near Van Buren, Missouri. The accident caused the death of Bayless, and Shockley, who survived the crash, fled the scene. The investigations of the car accident was headed by Sergeant Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. of the Missouri State Highway Patrol; Shockley was named a suspect behind the incident. During investigations, the police recovered beer cans and a tequila bottle inside the truck and a blood smear above the passenger-side wheel well on the outside of the truck.^[1]

A few months later, on March 20, 2005, just when he returned home from his patrol shift, Sergeant Graham, then a 12-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, was shot by an assailant with a rifle; the killer was none other than Shockley himself, who likely perpetuated the shooting to stop the investigation, after Sergeant Graham had identified him as the prime suspect behind the accident and Bayless's death, which had been classified as involuntary manslaughter.^[1][2]

Autopsy results showed that of all the gunshot wounds found on the victim, one of the bullets was fired from behind Sergeant Graham and severed his spinal cord at the neck. Another two gunshot wounds were inflicted into the face and shoulder. In between the first gunshot and the other two gunshots, Sergeant Graham had fell onto the ground, sustaining fractures to his skull and ribs upon impact with the pavement.^[1]

Just three days after the killing, on March 23, 2005, Shockley was arrested in connection with the hit-and-run. Subsequently, Shockley was also linked to the murder of Sergeant Graham and placed under arrest for that case as well.^[1][3]

On March 29, 2005, 28-year-old Lance Shockley was charged with both first-degree murder and armed criminal action.^[4] A day later, on March 30, 2005, the prosecution filed an official notice to seek the death penalty against Shockley. Under Missouri state law, first-degree murder carries either a sentence of life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted.^[5]

In May 2008, it was reported that Shockley would stand trial in Carter County on August 11, 2008,^[6][7] but the trial was delayed. Eventually, on March 22, 2009, four years after the murder of Sergeant Graham, Shockley's murder trial began at the Howell County Circuit Court, after the trial venue was moved from Carter County.^[8] Jury selection was completed three days before the first day of trial.^[9]

During the trial itself, the prosecution charged that Shockley had the motive of killing Sergeant Graham, with the intention to stop further investigations into the car accident, although the defence argued that Shockley was innocent and he did not commit the murder. The prosecution and defence rested their cases on March 26, 2009.^[10][11]

On March 27, 2009, Shockley was found guilty of first-degree murder, after the jury deliberated for three hours and returned with their verdict.^[12][13][14] Reportedly, the Graham family were grateful towards the jury over the guilty verdict, which they described as an answer to their prayers.^[15]

On March 28, 2009, the jury deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty or life without parole for Shockley, and as a result, the sentence was left up to the trial judge to decide, as per Missouri law.^[16][17][18]

On May 22, 2009, Carter County Circuit Judge David Evans sentenced 32-year-old Lance Shockley to death during a formal sentencing trial. According to Shockley's lawyer, his client stoically took the decision. Attorney general Chris Koster and Captain Billy E. Chadwick both responded that the sentence was appropriate and fair.^[19][20][21]

On April 30, 2013, four years after Lance Shockley was condemned to death row, his first appeal was filed to the Missouri Supreme Court.^[22] On August 14, 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected his appeal against his death sentence.^[23][1]

On July 10, 2017, Circuit Judge Kelly Parker turned down Shockley's post-conviction appeal against his death sentence.^[24][25][26]

Subsequently, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected two appeals from Shockley in 2014 and 2016 respectively.^[2]

The Missouri Supreme Court heard another appeal from Shockley in 2018,^[27][28] before the court dismissed it on April 16, 2019, upholding both his death sentence and murder conviction.^[29][30][31]

On March 31, 2025, Shockley's final appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.^[32][33] On the same date Shockley's final appeal was dismissed, a motion was filed to the Missouri Supreme Court to schedule an execution date for Shockley.^[34]

On June 25, 2025, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a death warrant for Lance Shockley, scheduling his death sentence to be carried out on October 14, 2025.^[35][36]

• Capital punishment in Missouri
• List of death row inmates in Missouri
• List of people scheduled to be executed in the United States