Community members mourn loss of Arkansas Drug Task Force agent who leaves behind infant daughter
DANVILLE, Ark – The Arkansas River Valley is mourning the loss of a young pioneer in women’s law enforcement who died weeks after becoming a mother.
15th Judicial District Drug Task Force Agent Lyonette Hale-Thomas will be laid to rest on Monday, Aug. 12. She died Wednesday, Aug. 7, from a sudden blood clot.
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Thomas was the first female president of the Arkansas Narcotics Officers Association. She has represented the state all over the country including multiple times in D.C.
The Waldron native graduated from Waldron High School in 2003. She knew her calling going straight into the local justice system while studying criminal justice at Arkansas Tech University. Her first boss was 15th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Tom Tatum Jr.
“She was young and energetic then,” Tatum said. She would have been the one doing everything we are trying to do for her. She would have made sure everything was perfect.”
Thomas became a probation and parole officer before Commander Joe Patterson hired her at the Arkansas 15th Judicial District Task Force.
It was 13 years ago, and what quickly struck Thomas was her passion. Passion for collecting, the Hogs, and doing her job of getting drugs off the street right.
“She was, you might say, an inspiration to all of us,” Patterson said. “She knew all the DTFs you might say in Arkansas. There are 19 of us, and she knew them all.”
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Agent Thomas won the Paudert Evans Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award in 2016. Beyond that, her peers statewide chose her as the first female president of the Arkansas Narcotics Officers Association.
“Without a doubt, being a mother was her favorite role,” Tatum said.
Thomas’s seven-week-old daughter shares her middle name, Sue. Her husband, an Arkansas Game & Fish warden, is watching over their daughter. Thomas was on maternal leave when she passed.
“That baby meant everything to her. She talked about that baby and loved that baby like you couldn’t believe,” Patterson said.
Agent Thomas would have turned 39 at the end of August. She was set to return to work in September.
“It’s sad. Tragic. But her family loved her, and they thought the world of her. We all loved her. Everything that she wanted was right there in front of her, ” Patterson said.
Several agencies honored Lyonette Hale-Thomas’s legacy during processions from Little Rock to Dardanelle Thursday and Dardanelle to Waldron Friday.
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