Menu
Menu
🚓 Deputy Will May was honored with a funeral service after dying in a shootout on April 2 at the Mossy Head Dollar General.
🙏 Sheriff Adkinson and Pastor Longmire delivered tributes, highlighting May’s bravery and character both in life and in the line of duty.
🇺🇸 Hundreds of law enforcement officers participated in a full honors procession to Magnolia Cemetery in DeFuniak Springs.
Saturday’s blue skies and bright sunshine complemented the tribute to the life and service of Sheriff’s Deputy William “Will” Paul Thomas May. May died after mortally wounding a man who shot him in a gun battle that erupted at the Mossy Head Dollar General on April 2.
Law enforcement from around the state filled the auditorium of the Destiny Worship Center in Miramar Beach, and hundreds of county and state vehicles filled the church’s parking lot. The same vehicles followed behind the deputy, who lay in a van decorated with a photo of an honor guard that read, “Honoring Those That Serve.”
In his tribute to the slain deputy, Sheriff Michael Adkinson, Jr. said he hired Deputy May in 2014 to work in the communications department.
The Sheriff told audience members online through a live stream and in the sanctuary that he believes a law enforcement job is a calling. He added that an individual is hired in law enforcement because of their character – after that, it’s up to the law enforcement agency to teach skills of the trade. “I knew what this man was about,” Adkinson recounted to the church, “[I have] over six years of commendations, letters of recommendation, and awards to demonstrate just the man Will was.”
Has this story made a difference for you? Consider making a monthly supporting donation to Mid Bay News so that we can continue to create meaningful local journalism for our community.
In his eulogy, Sheriff Adkinson described a serious traffic accident in 2021 on Highway 20, where a car with a young man trapped inside caught fire. Sheriff Adkinson told the mourners Deputy May risked his life to save the young man.
Sheriff Adkinson noted the importance of ethics and integrity in the life of a civil servant. He shared that a person with a strong personal ethic does what is right and good when no one is watching.
To conclude his eulogy, Sheriff Adkinson added that on April 2, Deputy May was a man who was under fire. He said, “I have been in this business for 32 years and a lesser man would have crumbled. He would have crumbled! Will got thirteen rounds [fired], and six were on target after being shot and being ambushed. Let me say it to you again, the man under fire returned fire, stopping the suspect where he stood after being mortally wounded.” The Sheriff shared that Deputy May was a hero who paid a price to save other lives. He also encouraged everyone listening to honor Deputy May by living a virtuous life.
Pastor Rob Longmire of Destiny Chapel provided a letter of thanks from the widow of Deputy May, Crystal Campbell-May. In the letter, she describes her husband as her ‘soul mate and hero’ and adds that Will “loved big.”
Through her notes read by the pastor, she shared grief about her loss and the loss of May’s four children. Mrs. Campbell-May quoted her late husband, who talked about his role as a dad and his concern for the world in which we live. She remembered a conversation with him where he told her, “I don’t want them [my children] to turn to the evil that I have to fight with every day on the roads.” Crystal said his heart was the foundation of our family.
The pastor encouraged the community by quoting Paul’s letter to the Romans. “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Longmire quoted.
Following the closing prayer, hundreds of law enforcement officials, dignitaries, and the community gathered and awaited the procession of the casket for the final journey to where the remains of Deputy William May. Officials memorialized him with formal law enforcement honors.
Hundreds of patrol units turned on their flashing red and blue lights before heading under the canopy of a United States Flag overhead. In the crowd, many had tears in their eyes and faces as the Ambulance wailed its siren and headed north to May’s final resting place: Magnolia Cemetery in Defuniak Springs.
