CHEROKEE COUNTY, N.C. — Francisco Flattes was killed by an inmate during a transport to a doctor’s appointment on Monday, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
A memorial is growing outside the Cherokee County Detention Facility for the deputy killed in the line of duty.
Flattes was escorting inmate Kelvin Simmons when Simmons managed to obtain the deputy’s gun, leading officers on a chase across three counties before being recaptured.
Simmons was serving federal time for a bank robbery and had a history of escape attempts.
“This individual is going to be charged with 1 count of first degree murder, and we anticipate that more charges will be forthcoming,” Ashley Hornsby Welch, the district attorney handling the case, said.
Flattes leaves behind a wife, who worked alongside him in the detention center, and a son-in-law who serves as a Cherokee County Sheriff’s Deputy.
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