Five Rutherford County Sheriff’s deputies who saved two victims from fires earned the Jerry Anderson Hero Award Saturday from the NAACP-Murfreesboro Branch.
Sgt. Ethan Shenefield, SRO Jamie Murphy and Deputy Steve Hill received the award for saving a man from his burning home. Deputy Christina Hill and Deputy Nathanial Harrington received the award for rescuing a driver from his burning car.
Deputies received the award during the annual breakfast honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at MTSU.
The award is named for Murfreesboro native Anderson, who played football Central High School, the University of Oklahoma and the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Anderson died after saving two boys from drowning May 27, 1989 in Stones River off Warrior Drive in Murfreesboro.
Deputy Steve Hill responded to a house fire where resident Larry Adams was trapped March 23 inside his Kittrell home. Hill encountered thick smoke and flames when he tried to reach Adams by crawling through the living room.
Dispatchers notified him Adams was in the back bedroom. Realizing he could not reach Adams because of the smoke and flames, Hill crawled back outside where he met Shenefield and Murphy.
The three deputies went to the back bedroom window where Hill climbed through, grabbed Adams and slid him out the window to Shenefield and Murphy. They moved him to safety.
Paramedics treated Adams who was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In the second rescue, Deputy Christina Hill and Deputy Harrington answered a crash call where they found injured driver Maurice Jennings trapped in his burning car Oct. 24 on East Jefferson Pike.
Deputy Hill and Deputy Harrington removed him from his burning car, putting their lives in danger to save Jennings’ life.
Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh commended the deputies.
“Our deputies risked their own lives to save a resident who could not escape from his burning home and a driver trapped in his burning car,” Fitzhugh said. “I am grateful for their heroic actions saving these men’s lives.”
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