By Monica Land
JACKSON – A man convicted of shooting a police officer with his own gun in 1977 has died, prison officials said.
Marion Stanley Osborne died Jan. 22, of natural causes at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
Osborne, 58, was serving a life sentence for killing Belmont Patrolman Mickey Gene Johnson. He was convicted of capital murder in Tishomingo County and sentenced on April 14, 1978.
Osborne was scheduled for a Parole Board review in February.
Reportedly, on Dec. 1, 1977, Osborne was trying to steal a vehicle, when Johnson tried to stop him. Osborne overpowered the 20-year-old rookie cop and shot him with his service weapon.
Osborne fled the scene leaving Johnson for dead.
Johnson had been employed with the City of Belmont for two years and is fondly remembered by his family and the community.
“Mickey was such a great person,” Alderman Steve Smith of Belmont wrote on the Officer ’Down Memorial Page. “He was a caring, compassionate, and positive role model for me and my friends. We will never forget what he and his family sacrificed for our community.”
A segment of Mississippi Highway 25 in Belmont has since been named the Mickey Gene Johnson Memorial Highway.
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