Trooper Ralph C. Tatoian

Trooper Tatoian was killed in a motor vehicle accident at approximately 4:45 a.m. while responding as part of his agency’s Special Emergency Response Team to assist with the manhunt for an armed burglary suspect who had shot at a deputy in Gasconade County.

The subject of the manhunt was arrested and convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Trooper Tatoian and sentenced to life in prison. (Missouri law provides that a “person is guilty of second-degree murder if he commits any felony and, in the perpetration of that felony, another person is killed as a result of the perpetration of that felony.”)

On November 9, 2006, a portion of I-44 from mile marker 257 to mile marker 259 in St. Louis County was dedicated as the "Trooper Ralph Tatoian Memorial Highway."