Yuma County Sheriff’s Office Fallen Officer

 
Deputy Sylvester Villa

Deputy Sheriff Sylvester Castillo Villa

End of Watch: Sunday, January 25, 1948
Tour of Duty: 13 years

Gravesite: Desert Lawn Memorial Park - Garden of Desert Lawn, Section D, Lot 10, Space 9

 
 

Deputy Sheriff Sylvester Villa was shot at approximately 10:00 p.m. the night of Saturday, January 24, 1948 as he and two other deputies were tracking a burglary suspect on foot that had broken into a Yuma home a short time earlier. Deputy Villa was transported to the Yuma General Hospital where he died early Sunday morning at 2:45 a.m. of shock and hemorrhage due to bullet wound, left inguinal (located in or affecting the groin) region (official cause of death noted on death certificate).

Early Saturday evening (approximately 4:00 p.m.), Mr. William Balley, who farmed river bottom land on the Arizona side of the river near Yuma, reported to Undersheriff Lloyd Mabery that a house on his property had been burglarized and that clothing and other possessions of two Mexican farm workers, Gabriel Cordita and George Lopez, had been taken. Undersheriff Mabery, accompanied by Deputy Jim Cawley, took Deputy Villa, who was well known as an expert tracker, to the scene of the burglary to track the suspect. Deputy Villa was able to pick up a trail and with his two fellow officers and the two Mexican farm workers, he tracked the suspect out of the river bottom and to a spot near the 10th Street underpass on Highway 95, near Yuma’s railroad “jungles.” There Deputy Villa lost the trail.

Deputy Villa told Undersheriff Mabery and Deputy Cawley to return to their vehicle and wait for him on a dirt road near the pass while he backtracked in an attempt to pick up the trail. Less than five minutes after Undersheriff Mabery and Deputy Cawley had parked their car on the dirt road, they heard five shots in rapid succession. Deputy Cawley drove the vehicle to the top of a sand dune while Undersheriff Mabery called for assistance. Switching on the spotlight, the officers spotted a man running barefooted across the desert toward the highway. The officers drove to the highway to where they saw the fleeing man cross and arrived in time to see him disappear into the deep railroad cut about 200 yards from the road. The officers pursued the man on foot; however, they were unable to catch sight of him again.

The officers returned to the scene of the shooting where they found Deputy Villa lying face down in the sand with a bullet wound to his groin. It was later learned that one of the Mexicans who was tracking the burglary suspect along with Deputy Villa had discovered a man asleep in some brush. The Mexican returned to Deputy Villa and pointed out the man’s hideout. Deputy Villa approached the man with a flashlight and nudged him with his foot. It was believed that the man fired from the ground almost instantly given that Deputy Villa fired only one shot from his gun, which went wild. However, the suspect’s testimony during the trial was that he jumped to his feet and fired toward Deputy Villa.

The Manhunt
Every available peace officer in the Yuma area was mobilized to conduct an intensive manhunt for the suspect. The posse of officers fanned out across the area east of Yuma and early Sunday morning they picked up the suspect’s trail again in the desert. According to the officers who tracked the suspect, later identified as Ray Marvin Graves, 27, of Phoenix, Graves had crawled nearly two miles on his hands and knees.

The search continued until about 9:00 a.m. that morning when Graves was surrounded and captured by three City of Yuma Policemen in Fortuna Wash, about half a mile from Highway 95. Although Graves was armed with a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver, he did not offer any resistance when he was surrounded. When he was arrested, Graves’ bleeding feet were wrapped in rags after fleeing barefoot an estimated 25 miles, crossing back and forth on Highway 95. The 75-man posse of peace officers from Immigration, Border Patrol, City Police, Arizona Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s Office conducted the 11-hour chase for Graves across the desert and farmlands of the Gila Valley in cars, on foot and on horseback. Among the items that were found in Graves’ desert camp near Yuma’s railroad “jungles” were those stolen from the home on Saturday evening.

The Trial
On January 26, 1948, first-degree murder charges were filed against Graves for the fatal shooting of Deputy Villa. On February 19, 1948, Graves entered a plea of not guilty to murder charges in Superior Court and his trial date was set for 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 1948.

The morning of March 8th, was devoted to jury selection. The presiding Judge J. W. Faulkner of Mohave County ordered that the jury of seven men and five women be held at the Yuma County Courthouse for the duration of the trial in effort to prevent against any influencing elements from reaching the jury. This action of sequestering a jury was the first in Yuma County history.

On March 10, 1948, Graves took the witness stand and testified that he shot Deputy Villa because he was “scared.” He testified that when he was awakened by Deputy Villa atop a sand hill near Yuma’s railroad “jungles,” he cocked his .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver, and upon getting to his feet he fired toward Villa.

The jury convened for deliberation the afternoon of March 10th. Later that afternoon, the jury convicted Graves of second-degree murder. On March 11th, he was sentenced to 50 to 70 (75) years in prison.

 

Sylvester Villa, 62 years of age, was survived by his wife and six children.

Following are the news articles used as resources regarding the shooting of Deputy Villa:

NOTE: In the process of researching the murder of Deputy Sheriff Sylvester Villa, I found conflicting information that I was unable to corroborate regarding the number of years that Deputy Villa had served with the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office; the time of the shooting; whether the suspect fired from the ground or standing; and the number of years the suspect was sentenced to. The information above is pieced together from the newspaper articles listed and the Ancestary.com website.

 
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