Marshal Willis Dearing was shot and killed answering a disturbance call.

On December 16, 1897 at about 11:45 pm, a drunken man, Ross Martin, who had been refused service at Brainard's Restaurant then fired a shot into the street. Marshal Dearing heard the shot and told the suspect that he was under arrest. The suspect turned and shot Marshal Dearing in the chest and throat. Marshal Dearing staggered about twenty feet and fell to the pavement. A physician responded to the scene and pronounced Marshal Dearing dead.

In November 1906 a reward of $200 was reissued by Governor Folk for the arrest of Robert Ross Martin for the murder of Marshal Dearing.

Marshal Dearing was survived by his wife, three children and his mother.