The deputy U.S. marshal killed in a shootout was expecting his first child - a boy , his wife learned the day after his death . Channing Wells said on Wednesday that the baby will be named Josie Wells Jr. , after his father . The last thing she told her husband was that she had an appointment - but not until next week - to learn whether the baby was a boy or a girl . Scroll down for video . Channing Wells ( pictured on her wedding day with husband Josie in June 2012 ) has said her expectant baby will be named Josie Wells Jr , after his deputy U.S. Marshall father who was killed in the line of duty this week . Mrs Wells , an optometrist , said she did n't regret encouraging her husband to serve as a federal marshall and that he had died doing a job that he loved . 'The marshals took me to the hospital in Mississippi this morning so I could learn the baby 's gender . ... It 's bittersweet , ' she said on Wednesday in a phone interview from Baton Rouge . Josie Wells , 27 , was killed on the outskirts of that city on Tuesday in a shootout with a man suspected of killing two siblings outside a nightclub . The scene was about 130 miles from his home in the Jackson suburb of Raymond , Mississippi . The suspect , Jamie D. Croom , 31 , of New Roads , Louisiana , was hit multiple times in the shootout . He died early Wednesday , East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William 'Beau ' Clark said . Before Croom died , the U.S. Attorney 's Office charged him with the young deputy 's murder . Channing Wells said the couple had been married nearly three years but had been together since both were 19 and going into their sophomore years at Jackson State University . He took a job at the fast-food restaurant where she worked : 'He stayed for one paycheck , just to get my phone number , ' she said . After she finished four more years of school in Chicago to become an optometrist , Josie Wells missed a test of his own to drive her to another state for her board examination , she said . Deputy U.S . Marshal Josie Wells ( left ) , 27 , was fatally shot around 11am on Tuesday at Elm Grove Motel in Scotlandville - an area north of Baton Rouge . The fugitive , Jamie D. Croom ( right ) , 31 , from New Roads was shot and taken to a hospital where his condition has not been released . Later , she said , she encouraged her husband to look beyond his original ambition to service as a federal marshal . The fugitive , Jamie D. Croom , 31 , was shot and taken to a hospital where his condition has not been released . He is facing murder charges . 'His dream was just to become a local police officer , ' she said . ' I told him , 'Do n't settle for that . Why do n't you find the highest level of law enforcement you can do ? '' Wells ' father , Obie Wells Sr. , who turns 57 Thursday , said he , too , had followed a family member into law enforcement . He retired from the sheriff 's office in coastal Jackson County as a captain , and all of his sons followed him into the field . He said his surviving sons are a private security officer and police officers . One of his three daughters is studying criminal justice at Jackson State , where Josie Wells earned his bachelor 's in the same subject . 'She was planning on doing an internship with Josie , ' he said . Obie Wells , a self-described cowboy who keeps horses and used to keep cattle on his 100-acre spread in Wade , north of Pascagoula , said his longtime nickname is 'Josie ' after the Clint Eastwood title character in 'The Outlaw Josey Wales . ' He gave the name to his second son when his wife , Sherry , refused to let him follow George Foreman 's example and name all of his sons Obie , he said . Josie Wells joined the U.S . Marshals Service immediately after getting his degree four years ago , Obie Wells said . Authorities said he was the first deputy marshal killed in the line of duty since 2011 . Croom had a long criminal record and faced first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Lechelle Rita Williams , 42 , and her brother Sinica Lee Williams , 38 , said Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Beauregard Torres III . 'It was drug-related — just an ongoing feud because of two sides , ' Lt. Richard Torres said Wednesday . Channing Wells said that despite her husband 's death , she does n't regret encouraging him to join the U.S . Marshals Service . 'He would n't have been happy just being stuck in one position , not knowing there was more — that he could have a higher potential , ' she said . And , she said , 'he died doing what he wanted to do and what he loved . ' Croom has been on the run since the February 18 shooting outside the Sugar Shack nightclub in Pointe Coupee that left Lechelle Rita Williams ( left ) , 42 , and her 38-year-old brother Sinica Lee Williams ( right ) dead .
Wife Channing Wells announced on Wednesday that the baby will be named Josie ##ny Jr , after his wife . The last thing she told her husband was that she had an appointment - but not until next week - to learn whether the baby was a boy or a girl . Wells , 27 , was killed on the outskirts of Baton Rouge on Tuesday in a shootout with a man suspected of killing two siblings outside a nightclub . The suspect , Jamie ##room , 31 , was hit multiple times in the shootout . He died early on Tuesday . Before Croom testimony , the U.S. Attorney 's Office charged him with the young child 's murder .