Officer James Julian Goodson, 39, with seven years on the force, was working an off-duty assignment at a bar at 7th Avenue South and 22nd Street South on Christmas Eve, 1947. A patron warned Officer Coleman Powell of an armed man outside. When Powell confronted him, the man opened fire; hearing the struggle, Goodson rushed out to assist and was struck in the head. He was taken to the hospital but died at 3:20 a.m. on Christmas morning. The suspect was later arrested.
Officer Goodson was the eighth St. Petersburg police officer killed in the line of duty. He is survived by his father; his wife, Dorothy Maxine, whom he had married just thirteen days earlier; and his son, Lane.
Your support keeps the memorial standing and stands beside the families of those who gave everything.