Tuesday's Internet Edition, July 08, 2008.
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Brewer had served as Marshal and Night Watchman for the City of Lexington for 16 years, when on December 15, 1945, he was shot while on duty. On that day, a local man named Gathan “Red” Lovelady was arrested for disturbing the peace at the Morris Drug Store (located on the west side of the Square in downtown Lexington) and later shot Brewer five times before fleeing the area. Brewer died five days later, on December 20, 1945.
John Brewer lived his entire life in Lee County and was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Brewer of Lexington. In 1914 he married Hallie Rennie of Lexington and together they had five children.
Lee County Sheriff John Burttschell deputized Brewer as a City Marshal and Night Watchman for Lexington, where he served for 16 years.
On December 15, 1945 Lovelady entered into Fred Morris’ Drug Store located on Main Street in Lexington. Lovelady was reported to have been intoxicated and was throwing items from the store shelves. Mr. Morris, owner of the Drug Store, called Marshal Brewer for assistance.
Like every other call for the past 16 years, Brewer arrived for his call of duty, this time at the Morris Drug Store, and took Lovelady into custody for “disturbing the peace”. While escorting Lovelady to the jail, Lovelady pulled a firearm and shot Brewer 5 times, and fled the area leaving Brewer bleeding and dying. Brewer was able to crawl back to Morris’s Drug Store to summon help. However, he died five days later at the Newton Clinic, unable to recover from his wounds.
Lovelady was later located, tried and convicted for the murder of Marshal John Brewer. One source reported that Lovelady was convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair, but local historians report that Lovelady spent several years in prison, and returned to the area where he lived the remainder of his life, proclaiming his innocence to the crime.
The Officer Down Memorial in Washington D.C. requested a Lexington City uniform patch for Lexington’s only fallen officer from Police Chief Randall Davis. Davis reported that a Lexington Police Department uniform shoulder patch, as worn by officers today, and a photograph of John Brewer provided by friends and family members will be sent to the Memorial in Washington D.C. to be displayed along side other fallen heroes. Davis also stated, “Lexington did not have a Police Department at the time of this unfortunate incident and no historic uniform patch or badge from this era is available to send to the Memorial. Therefore, we are sending a Lexington Police Department shoulder patch to Washington as a well deserved insignia showing Marshal Brewer’s dedication, for the people he served.”
Brewer was shot on his son’s, Edward’s, birthday who had just arrived home after serving in WWII.