RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Commonwealth of Kentucky added two more names to its fallen officer monument on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University on Thursday morning.
In September of 2024, Deputy Joshua C. Phipps of Russell County was killed in the line of duty, while End of Watch for Sergeant William Marty Jackson of the Winchester Police Department happened in April of last year.
“Sergeant Jackson and Deputy Phipps will forever be a part of the fabric of Team Kentucky,” Governor Andy Beshear told a group of mourners who came to pay their respects to the fallen officers outside the Eastern Kentucky University Department of Criminal Justice Training Center. In addition to Jackson and Phipps, 8 historical honorees were recognized as well.
“They show up for us in the most difficult time, and we've had a lot of those times as a state lately,” Mr. Beshear added.
Deputy Phipps’ mother, Pamela, was in attendance and accepted a United States flag in her son’s honor.
“There is no love greater than a mother's love for her child. You feel like you are living in a surreal type of nightmare. It’s very difficult and it changes the dynamics of your whole family. But I know my son was very happy with what he was doing,” Phipps said following the ceremony.
Aside from the governor, we also heard from Chelsi Hamilton, who lost her husband, Scotty – a Pikeville police officer - in 2018, recalling that night vividly.
“…Holding my 9-month-old daughter, hearing the words no one should have to hear; that her daddy would never return to us,” she said with a cracking voice.
Their daughter is about to turn 8, and as was the case for anyone who’s lost a loved one in the line of duty, time only heals this wound so much.
“Nothing is ever the same in a family once you lose a family member,” Ms. Phipps said.
The governor agrees with that when it comes to these fallen heroes and made a request of everyone in attendance and anyone within an earshot of today’s ceremony.
“It's now our duty to honor them with action. To remember them in our daily lives and support those who continue to serve,” he said.
