‘He meant so much to this community:’ Hundreds pay tribute to slain MS Coast deputy
After Hancock County sheriff’s deputy Lt. Michael Boutte was shot and killed, his wife realized she had no room in her heart for hate or anger — only peace.
She knew he died doing what he loved best.
“Michael, my husband, a father, a son, a granddad, a brother, a dog dad, a fishing buddy, a friend, and an amazing officer and hero to so many — he helped anyone in need,” Jennifer Mann-Boutte said in a message she shared with the Sun Herald. “Michael was a pillar in our family and community and we are all so heartbroken.”
But of all of his titles, the 57-year-old law officer “was most proud of the badge he wore, and he wore it honorably.”
On Tuesday, hundreds of mourners gathered at the Bay St. Louis Community Hall to pay their final respects to the 20-year veteran officer.
A long list of state dignitaries attended the service, including Gov. Tate Reeves, local and state officials and law enforcement officers who had served with him at agencies out of state.
Boutte died Feb. 1 shortly after he responded to a report of suicide threat at a home in the Necaise community. He was the first Hancock County deputy to arrive at the home, and officials have said he was shot as soon as he stepped out of his law enforcement vehicle.
A second deputy arrived minutes later and, in an exchange of gunfire, shot and injured the suspect.
Slain deputy ‘meant so much’ to community
Boutte started his law enforcement career in South Dakota, then went on to be a founding member of the Federal Way Department of Public Safety in Washington state.
He moved to Mississippi in 2012, and worked at the Picayune Police Department and Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, serving in the rural community and the city of Diamondhead.
Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam and Ben Taylor, an agent with the Department of Justice’s Homeland Security Investigations division, spoke at the funeral service for the officer they described as an “exceptional man” who spent his career helping others — both on and off the job.
“Michael Anthony Boutte, Sr., better know as “Unc” to those who served under him, was “a truly outstanding deputy and a leader with an infectious smile,” Adam told the standing-room only crowd in the community hall.
Since his death, Adam said, the sheriff’s office has received hundreds of letters from people all over the area offering their condolences. Some of those who wrote in, he said, included people who had past run-ins with Boutte in his position as a law enforcement officer, but still had nothing but respect for the man.
Adam also recalled the day he met Boutte after he had applied for the job. The initial interview and paperwork revealed his commitment to law enforcement and his involvement in other high-risk incidents at previous agencies.
Adam said he was the next in line to meet the potential new hire and expected to find a “hardened officer.”
“Well, I was wrong,” Adam said, “I was greeted by that damn smile. He was just wonderful and he meant so much to this community.”
The sheriff recalled times over the years when Boutte wound up forging a friendship with people he met after responding to 911 calls for help or after he simply noticed the residents while patrolling by their homes.
In particular, Adam reminisced to the Sun Herald about a time Boutte responded to 911 call that turned out to be a medical emergency at the home of a elderly woman in Diamondhead. After the woman recovered and went home, Boutte went by to check on her, and soon the two became fast friends.
Boutte wasn’t one to brag about things he did for people, but Adam said the officer spent his time off the job checking up on the woman and even noticed mold on her home at one point, then rented a pressure washer to clean it.
The sheriff told the Sun Herald there are just too many good things to mention about the beloved officer — from him reaching out to the homeless to help them with clothes to him trying to stop a fight between neighbors before law enforcement had to get involved.
Adam said he would sometimes get a heads-up about a possible fight brewing between neighbors over property concerns, and Boutte would go out and talk to them before it could escalate to the point that authorities would be called to respond.
“I could say, ‘I need you to go out there and diffuse the situation,’” Adam recalled. “He’d just work with them and help resolve the situation before we had to called on to respond.”
Taylor echoed much of the same sentiment, also noting one tribute he felt really shined a light on who Boutte was as a officer and a civilian.
In a social media post, Taylor said he noticed how one deputy had recalled a conversation where Boutte said, “’My name is already written in the eyes of the Lord and I’ve been granted eternal salvation.’”
“You see, Mike wasn’t afraid of dying,’ he said. “Mike knew he had an appointment to keep. He knew that with each day, he would be closer to that appointment (with death).”
But, Taylor said, ”his service and dedication made him an exceptional human being.”
Taylor recalled when Boutte spent hours searching for a lost turtle, and another time when he helped get a car out of the mud, then went ahead and cleaned the car for the driver because it was dirty.
End of watch call
At the service Tuesday, a portrait of Boutte along with a painting and a host of flowers sat next to his silver flag-draped coffin.
A law enforcement honor guard escorted his casket outside the community center, where bagpipe players and officers later paid tribute with a 21-gun salute followed by the solemn sounds of Taps played in the background.
The honor guard delicately wrapped a flag and gave it to the governor, who presented it to Boutte’s family.
Soon, the last radio call went out for Unit 53, Boutte’s call number, and Hancock County’s central dispatch called over the radio for the end of his watch and a moment of silence in honor of their fallen comrade.
Afterward, officers loaded Boutte’s flag-draped coffin into a white hearse.
As far as the eye could see, a line of blue lights from police cars and motorcycles began the journey of accompanying Boutte for the 54-mile stretch, from his service in Bay St. Louis to the Biloxi National Cemetery under flag salutes and past the people who stopped in their cars or stood on the roadside to honor the officer.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 1:48 PM.
