MARSHALL - The tributes from residents, co-workers, family, town officials and first responders throughout Western North Carolina continue to pour in following the death of retired Marshall Police Chief Mike Boone, who was killed in a wrong-way collision Aug. 2 after leaving work.
Boone, who was leaving work following his shift at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's Enka campus and heading home to Burnsville, where he lived with his wife, Jennifer, was struck and killed by Ricky Ryan Houston, a fugitive who had been on a dayslong crime spree and wreaking havoc throughout Western North Carolina.
Boone was struck and killed by Houston, who also died in the collision, at Interstate 26's Exit 11, for Mars Hill, after both the stolen 2019 Jaguar Houston was driving and Boone's Ford pickup trick were engulfed in flames.
Just more than one year ago, Houstonwas heldin the Buncombe County Detention Facility for allegedly shooting a sheriff's deputy outside the magistrate's office in downtown Asheville afterthreatening his former wife and children, punching the wife's friend, and following her to the jail.
According to McDowell County Sheriff's Office, Malerie Lauren Crisp, 41, of Asheville — was in Houston's car at the time of the crash and had been stabbed. She died upon arrival to a nearby hospital because of her stab wounds, according to an autopsy conducted in Winston Salem by N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office.
Now, in the aftermath of the tragedy and chaos, the community is struggling with both the question of why Houston was released in the first place, and the tragic timing of Boone's death, which came just two days after the town of Marshall held a retirement ceremony for Boone, in which his daughter, Morganne, wife, Jennifer, and granddaughter, Mikenlee, were on hand to celebrate him at Town Hall.
Tributes to Boone poured in throughout the week on The Citizen Times' and The News-Record & Sentinel's Facebook pages, with residents sharing memories about how Boone had helped them with certain issues they had in the past, and many of them commented on how warm and kind of a man he was, and how he led by example.
Another theme that was brought to light was that even in his death, Boone managed to put a stop to Houston's terror, and he was the hero.
Morganne Patricia Boone, Mike Boone's daughter, told The News-Record & Sentinel she took comfort in that.
"I know he’s with our Heavenly Father and he stopped a really bad man from hurting anyone else," Morganne Boone said. I’m holding on to that."
But Mike Boone's only child said she is still in shock about her father's death.
"It still doesn’t feel real," Morganne Boone said. "He is a very special man. I struggle with speaking in past tense and I don’t think I ever will adjust to that. He will always be chief, my daddy, and a loving husband, and my baby's 'Apaw.'"
Tributes and benefits
On Aug. 5, an observance was held in which Boone's body was carried back from the medical examiner in Winston Salem to his native Yancey County, where he previously served with the Burnsville Police Department.
Family, friends, local law enforcement officials, first responders and other residents joined to pay their respects to Boone at Burnsville Town Square.
For Boone, 54, the Aug. 5 observance was a homecoming.
In June 1994, while working with the Yancey County Sheriff's Department, Boone and another officer were shot by a man with a sniper rifle during a confrontation outside the Yancey County Courthouse, in which Yancey County magistrate W. Randy Thomas, a good friend of Boone, was shot and killed.
"The first round hit me in the arm, and I was facing a different direction," Boone said. "I knew the general vicinity it was coming from, but I mean, he's 80 yards away in the dark, and we're in the parking lot standing under a streetlight. He hit me twice, hit the magistrate twice and killed him, and shot up an ambulance and shot up my police car."
Boone spent four weeks recovering from the gunshot wound. After those four weeks, on the first day Boone returned to work, he was responding to a call about a potential domestic violence situation along Pensacola Road in Burnsville. While driving up the driveway of the residence, Boone and another Burnsville Police officer were fired at by the suspect, as the patrol car Boone was driving was shot out, he told The News-Record & Sentinel July 31.
But those who worked with Boone said he wasn't fond of telling war stories.
From what he told The News-Record & Sentinel, he didn't like to talk about the shootings much.
"You know, I had a couple bad dreams, but other than that, I never really thought about it," Boone said.
Marshall Police officer Tori Murdoch said Boone's death has been "like losing my dad again."
Murdoch has organized a petition gathering signatures to take to Chuck Edwards, the U.S. representative for North Carolina’s 11thDistrict "to make sure this never happens again."
Murdoch said the ultimate goal is to enact a policy or law in which no bond is available for offenders who shoot a law enforcement officer. As of Aug. 7, Murdoch said he had received roughly 20 signatures from local law enforcement in Madison County and surrounding counties.
The Mars Hill Fire Department, Madison County Emergency Management, and Stephanie Tweed and the Madison County Communications Center displayed a memorial on Interstate 26, Exit 11 for Mars Hill.
Marshall Police Department thanked the local organizations for the display in a Facebook post Aug. 7.
"We would like to thank everyone for the wonderful support and continued prayers for Chief Boone," Marshall Police Department said in the post.
"The contributions and messages of love and encouragement have been beyond anticipation. Our hearts are warmed and the amount of respect that has been displayed cannot bring back our loved one, but can absolutely help us remember, and spread infinite amounts of joy to others. You all have honored Chief Boone in an incredible way so thank you again. Stay safe everyone."
More: Why was Ryan R. Houston released?3 dead after pre-trial suspect fled law enforcement: Why released from Buncombe Co. jail?
More: Boone killed in collisionMike Boone, retired Marshall police chief, killed by wrong-way driver on I-26
More: Boone's retirement storyMarshall Police Chief Mike Boone retires after storied 32-year career in law enforcement
More:NCSHP: Jaguar driver in I-26 crash killing Police Chief Boone confirmed as fugitive
Bonnie and Clyde's Appalachian Cuisine in Marshall will host a benefit for Boone Aug. 24 beginning at 11 a.m. The event will feature barbecue from Steve Roberson, as well as raffle gift baskets from numerous local vendors, businesses and residents throughout Western North Carolina.
While the tributes are touching, for Boone's many friends and family, especially those who loved him most, including his brother-in-law Rick Byrd, the loss of Boone is something the family will never fully recover from.
"He's a good-hearted man. He's one of those people who, when they're gone, there's a big hole in the world, and it's hard to fill it," Byrd said.
"He just helped so many folks. Anybody that needed the help, he'd give the shirt off his back. You didn't even have to ask. He would just do it."
Johnny Casey has covered Madison County for The Citizen Times and The News-Record & Sentinel for three years. He earned a first-place award in beat news reporting in the 2023 North Carolina Press Association awards. He can be reached at 828-210-6074 or jcasey@citizentimes.com.May 24, 2024.
