DeSoto County school resource officer becomes key in solving case

A trusted school resource officer’s connection with students becomes the key to a difficult case.

Arcadia police school resource officer Mixon Trammell loves his job at DeSoto Middle School.

“Not all kids are comfortable speaking to law enforcement, and luckily, in the position that I’m in, I get to build a rapport with the kids,” said Trammell. “They see me every day. They kind of see me as a person instead of just as an authority figure.”

Trammell says that rapport was key in helping put 38-year-old James and 40-year-old Eugene Hoffer III behind bars.

Police say James brought a fifteen-year-old and her classmate to his home, where his brother had sex with the 15-year-old and James kissed her classmate on the lips.

Trammell got involved when the teenager spoke with a counselor, and the counselor later referred her to him.

“Luckily, it’s a couple of students we have a pretty good rapport with, so we spoke to them about it, and once we realized the seriousness of the allegations, we notified our criminal investigations division at that point,” said Trammell. “Even though you could tell they were uncomfortable with the subject matter, they were comfortable speaking to us.”

Police say Eugene admitted to having sex with the girl but told them he believed she was 18 or 19 years old.

“Immediate reactions: outrage, anger, of course, because you know, these kids do become your kids, you know, and you’re protective over them,” said Trammell.

While he says it’s a struggle to comprehend how someone could do this to one of his kids, he’s grateful their bond was strong enough that they felt they come to him.

“It’s a tremendous responsibility because it’s one of those things. You have to be able to talk to them and have them trust you,” said Trammell.

And because of that trust, he feels that justice is on its way to being served.

Eugene Hoffer is charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a victim 12 to 16 years old, and James Hoffer, who met the girls outside a nearby Circle K, is charged with principal lewd and lascivious battery.