Annual memorial held to honor Kentucky officers lost in 2022

RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — No one knows what it’s like to be a spouse on the receiving end of a call alerting you to the fact that your husband was killed in the line of duty. No one, except another spouse who at one time received the same call.

“I wanted to find his wife and just hold her and say nothing because there’s nothing you can say,” said Courtney Medlock while fighting back tears.

Mrs. Medlock was referring to the widow of Sheriff’s Deputy Caleb Conley. The deputy was shot and killed on Monday along I-75 in Georgetown. Courtney Medlock’s husband, Officer Logan Medlock of the London Police Department, was killed the night before last Halloween. He was one of seven officers across Kentucky who were killed in the line of duty last year, and today they were honored during a ceremony on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University, which houses the state’s fallen officers memorial.

“The event was beautiful, and I am so grateful they honor the fallen like this,” Mrs. Medlock said. “But it is so emotional and so hard because it brings us feelings as if the funeral happened yesterday,” she continued.

Governor Andy Beshear spoke for about 15 minutes and at times appeared to trip on his emotions as well. The governor recently lost a close friend in the shooting at Louisville’s Old National Bank earlier this spring. He thanked the officers there who stepped in and managed to keep the death toll from rising. He was also emotional addressing the families of those seven we lost in 2022.

“We love you, we’re mourning with you each day and we will be here. Lean on us,” Gov. Beshear told the surviving family members.

Among those he was addressing included Chase Petry. Chase is the son of Deputy William Petry. Petry was one of three officers killed while serving a warrant last June in eastern Kentucky. His father’s alleged killer took his own life inside the detention center earlier this year.

“It wasn’t fair that he got to choose their fate, and then he got to choose his own,” Chase said.

Chase said the last 11 months have been even harder on his mother and that the two have leaned on one another for support.

“Not being able to ask him questions,” he said of what’s been one of the more difficult things since his death. “I feel like I’d go to him immediately,” he continued.

Mrs. Medlock has a 5-year-old at home. This won’t be an easy road for either of them to travel now. Medlock’s father is a major with the London Police Department, and she knows her husband died doing what he loved.

“Always wanted to be a police officer and when he got his dream job, he kept a smile on his face. I’m just so thankful he got to live out his dream,” Medlock said.

The names of all seven officers were etched into this memorial wall for all to see, forever.