SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — It’s hard for Melissa Deaton to imagine what the children of Deputy Caleb Conley are going through. The Scott County deputy, who had a wife and two small children, was shot and killed during a traffic stop on I-75 Monday.
Deaton brought her own small children to a memorial Tuesday that was growing outside the Scott County Sheriff’s office. The vehicle Conley drove is sitting outside with flowers sitting on the hood.
“When things like this happen it just makes you realize how short life is,” Deaton said. “Hold the ones that you love close and cherish every moment because you don’t know when it could be your last.”
At the memorial, she clutched her kids tight, thinking about the fallen deputy who can’t clutch his kids.
In that moment, she told her kids she loves them and prayed for Conley and his family.
Many of the people LEX 18 spoke with who were paying their respects to the Conley’s family mentioned his kids. It was often the point in our interviews where people began to choke up.
“He had two children who woke up this morning who aren't going to school and their [mom] who is trying to explain why their dad is gone,” said Molly Cole, who paid her respects as Conley’s body was brought through Georgetown as part of a large procession.
At Scott County youth baseball games Tuesday evening, a moment of silence was held.
Neal Thompson, the organization’s vice president, told people over the loudspeaker the community had suffered a tremendous loss.
“Please keep his work family, wife and children, and others whose life he impacted in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days and weeks,” Thompson told kids and parents.
