Pearlie "Miss Sully" Golden, a 93-year-old woman, was shot five times and killed by a Hearne, Texas, police officer who was responding to a 911 call made by her nephew, Roy Jones, on May 7, 2014. Her nephew reportedly told police that his aunt Pearlie was upset because he had taken her car keys since she recently failed her driver's test. The elderly Pearlie was holding a .38-caliber revolver but never fired the weapon before she was shot.

Dozens of residents held a candlelight vigil to remember their feisty, friendly neighbor. Even more people came out to protest the killing of the lovable presence in their mostly Black community.

Pearlie was the second Hearne resident to be shot and killed by the same police officer. The officer was suspended with pay while the incident was under investigation. On May 10, 2014, the Hearne City Council voted unanimously to terminate the officer’s employment; the chief of police fired the officer, following the council’s vote. On September 10, 2014, a Robertson County grand jury declined to indict the officer, clearing him for a second time of any criminal wrongdoing for killing someone while on duty. This constant lack of accountability further fuels distrust in the American judicial system among Black citizens.