Christopher Whitfield

Christopher Lee Whitfield, 31, who had schizophrenia, was shot and killed by East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Deputy Glenn Sims Sr. outside a gas station in Ethel on October 14, 2019, after Whitfield allegedly took raw chicken and a carton of eggs from an outdoor cooler and fled on foot. Sims fired a warning shot into the ground during the chase, then caught Whitfield and scuffled with him on the ground; the sheriff's office said Sims's gun discharged accidentally during the struggle, striking Whitfield in the lower back and killing him. Days later, Sheriff Jeff Travis publicly acknowledged Sims had a prior criminal record including illegal discharge of a firearm, simple battery, and resisting an officer, none of which had been known to him. A grand jury twice considered the case and, on its second sitting in March 2020, declined to indict Sims on second-degree murder. Sims remained a commissioned deputy years afterward despite not returning to active duty. No one has ever been charged in Whitfield's death.

Ethel, LA · East Feliciana Parish County

• 2019: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The theft report, the foot chase, and the shooting, per the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office's own public statements and subsequent grand jury proceedings.
• Sims fired a warning shot into the ground before catching Whitfield; the sheriff's office said Sims's weapon discharged accidentally as the two struggled on the ground, striking Whitfield in the lower back.
• Sheriff Jeff Travis publicly disclosed days after the shooting that Sims had at least three prior criminal convictions, including illegal discharge of a firearm, simple battery, and resisting an officer, and said he had been unaware of this history because it predated his own tenure as sheriff.
• The East Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Office led the investigation into its own deputy's shooting, rather than referring it to Louisiana State Police, a decision an attorney consulted by local media said was legally permissible but that the community could perceive as a conflict of interest.
• A first grand jury proceeding was delayed because some jurors were related to either Sims or Whitfield; a second 12-person grand jury returned a “no true bill” in March 2020, declining to indict Sims on second-degree murder.
• The NAACP called for the U.S. Department of Justice to independently investigate the sheriff's office following the shooting.
• As of at least May 2025 reporting, more than five years after the shooting, Sims remained a commissioned East Feliciana Parish deputy despite not having returned to active patrol duty.

• Whether the discharge that killed Whitfield was in fact accidental, as the sheriff's office maintained from the outset, or resulted from Sims's own handling of the weapon during the struggle, was never independently tested at a criminal trial since the grand jury declined to indict.
• Why the sheriff's office chose to lead the investigation into its own deputy rather than refer it to Louisiana State Police has not been fully explained beyond the sheriff's stated confidence in his own department's ability to handle it fairly.
• Why Sims's extensive prior criminal history was not known to the sheriff or apparently considered before his continued employment as a deputy has not been fully addressed in public reporting.

• The Advocate — “Grand jury declines to charge East Feliciana deputy who fatally shot man stealing chicken, family heartbroken”
• The Washington Times / AP — “Jury declines charge against deputy for fatal shooting”
• WBRZ — “Deputy cleared by grand jury in shooting death still out of work, but remains commissioned”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs