In the 1966 Rice encounter, John picked off an errant pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.

He was promoted to the rank of Captain, in 1998, and was the commander of the department's Region 1 office near Shreveport, Louisiana.

Prior to assuming command of Region 1, Garlington held the rank of Sergeant, and was assigned to the department's Statewide Strike Force.

Garlington died in the line of duty, from drowning, while investigating a poaching complaint near his home on the Mill Creek Reservoir near Saline, LA in Bienville Parish.

His son, Jonesboro police officer John Moses Garlington, was interred at this same cemetery in the spring of 1994.