Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

Your heroism and service is honored today, the 2nd anniversary of your death. Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

To Andrea, his children, and his sister Amanda: I share your anquish in losing a beloved family member which I believe is life's greatest sorrow. Time never diminishes love. You are in my heart's embrace today. May God grant you solace.

Rest In Peace, Kevin. You are so handsome in your picture. I am sorry you were robbed of your life at such a young age.

Phyllis Loya
mother of fallen officer Larry Lasater

February 27, 2009

Unfortunately, I never knew you; however, I find it interesting that the death of someone I didn't know could affect me so profoundly. As a dispatcher, I've always loved my job and been proud of what I do, but your sacrifice has made me a better dispatcher. Your death has made me work harder, speak more clearly, listen more carefully, and love "my guys" even more than they know. In my mind, my primary and most important responsibility, is to do everything in my power to send "my guys" home to their families at the end of each shift.

I still pray daily for your wife and daughters, that God will continue to comfort them, and help them through their grief. They say time heals all wounds...personally I am not so sure, but hopefully time will lessen the grief felt by those who continue to love you.

God bless you and thank you for your sacrifice on this, the second anniversary of your senseless murder. Rest In Peace, my friend...

Police Dispatcher
Upstate SC Department

February 27, 2009

Look at me I’m shinning
I shine in your heart’s
That hold my memory dear
I shinned when I was here and
Now that I’m gone I shine still
For those that I left just know
That I will never be gone
Just bring out my memory
And I will shine on!!!!




Kevin, no words can say still
You are so loved and missed
Your sister
Amanda (Carper) Sweeney and your loving Family
Gone but not forgotten. 2-27-2007

Amanda Sweeney
Sister

February 27, 2009

Thinking of you and all of your loved ones today. Continue to keep watch over all of them, wrap your wings around them and protect them. Come to them in their dreams so they can feel your presence. You have not been forgotten.

Bob Gordon
Father of Chicago Officer: Michael P. Gordon, EOW: 8/8/04

February 27, 2009

REST IN PEACE SON, THE SACRIFICE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MADE WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AND APPRECIATED.

INV HAROLD HUTCHISON (RETIRED)
HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA POLICE DEPT

February 27, 2009

The loss of Kevin changed my life in a way I cannot even begin to fathom. His legacy lives on in us all...may we continue to honor him.

Tim Wilson

February 22, 2009

Kevin... As the girls and I approach the 2 year mark we still miss you so very much. I cannot even believe that it has been 2 years. I see you there,hear you laughing and am so thankful every moment that I can remember you so well. Things are difficult right now. I am having a hard time. Your sacrifice remains heroic to your daughters and I. We love and miss you daily.Until we meet again...........

Andrea Carper
widow

February 20, 2009

To your family and friends--I know the time of your anniversary is coming up, and it is a sad reminder of your passing. They say "time heals", but I think sometimes it gets harder especially with children because you see so much of Kevin in the children; but then again, it is a daily reminder that he is still with you. A hard part though is that he is not here to participate in daily activities, but please know that he is with you--in your heart--and with Jesus--and he watches over you and protects you....

Patty Dennis
Citizen

February 15, 2009

It is an Honor to serve as The Administrator for Deputy Carter's Facebook Memorial Site.

Semper Fi,
"Major Pain"

Michael B. Parlor

January 30, 2009

Kevin, I thought about you today and wondered. Of all the people that touch our lives and in all of this vast world, how can so many people be touched by one person. You have made a difference in so many lives and you will continue to do so as long as your memory lives on. We will never forget....You are an example to us all and you have raised the bar of expectation. I talked to K.T. the other day, he's a firefighter now. Terry G. still works on the flightline. The last T-2 left Pensacola a few months back. It seems like just yesterday we were all in Key West or San Diego chasing planes. Where does the time go.. Well, I'll let ya go for now and maybe someday we will meet again, in a far better place.

Sgt Ron "Hank" Hankinson
Escambia County Sheriffs Office/Old Friend

January 5, 2009

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin

I am so sorry you loss your life when you should be on this earth with your girls and wife

Even though you went away your memory is here to stay

Ever lasting love seems to be the only thing that keeps us going

Until we see you again our tears will keep flowing

When that day comes our hearts will no longer be broken! but a joy just to tell you how much you were missed and loved

To put our arms around you again would be only in our dreams until then brother

never forget
I love you Kevin and
and miss you so very much
Love your sis
Amanda

Amanda Sweeney
sister

October 8, 2008

Kevin, I woke up at 2:30 in the am, thinking of you. I remembered you standing in the line shack. When we were plane captains in Pensacola, FL. I can still see you standing in a modified weaver stance pointing your finger and saying, "I want to be a cop, I am going to be a cop, freeze!". You have accomplished that goal. It's been a long time since then, but your sacrafice knows no time and will stay fresh as the day it happened in the lives of those who knew you. You are truely missed and appreciated for the job you did.
Ron aka "Hank"

Sergeant Ron Hankinson
Escambia SO / Old Friend

July 4, 2008

Kevin,
Just wanted to stop by and say hey. Just got back from the funeral of North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. As i sat at his funeral thoughts of you kept coming back, like you David was a wife and a father, and like you he too was killed by someone who should have never been on the road. When will the justice system wake up and realize that it is killing the people that are sworn to protect it. I pray every day that there not be another sensless murder of a father, brother, son, husband, or a father. While at the funeral they described Trooper Blanton as a man who loved his job and a man whos smile was infectious. That made me think of you, and your smile that was forever painted on your face. I made a special visit to your grave on the way back from Trooper Blanton's funeral. We know that you are gone, but you will never be forgotten. Heaven just got bigger with a new Trooper, make him feel welcomed and may you both rest in peace now, watch over us and guide us as we have the watch now.

Deputy Sheriff M. Brandon Letterman
Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office

June 23, 2008

Justice Walks

Justice walks on streets of gold
Beside the officers down
We laugh and talk, we cry and pray
Of time served for our crowns

Crowns of many numbers be
That add up for our days
Served in humble honor first
Against man’s hatred ways

For you do not yet understand
And you may not yet see
His work on earth that carries on
As Justice walks your streets

Because of fallen heroes once
That kept you safe from harm
Love multiplies and duty calls
And honor still lives on

Across a broken pathway
Along a narrow road
Over a well-beaten highway
My name is carved in stone

A reminder of that sacrifice
You’ll look up and you’ll see
My name, your Friend, I who died
That you might still be free

Cross over now, go on your way
I watch you from above
My name is on the bridge you cross
My heart is filled with love

The night that News Channel 7 announced that the Senate had passed the bill to name the 129 bridge in your honor, I got up and wrote this. I was so excited for everyone that knew you that we would have a place to drive where we could see your name spelled out proudly and look up to heaven and smile and say "thank you Kevin for what you did for us". Your memorial is beautiful! Your memorial service was so beautiful! Andrea and the girls were incredible. I know you were looking down and smiling with pride. Brittany did a great job helping get the bridge naming accomplished. We miss you and Andrea and the girls every day! We look at your house, and still expect to see the girls playing outside, and you and Andrea coming home with groceries from Walmart! I still can't believe you wanted to take your own trash to the landfill LOL!(isn't it dumb what we think about sometimes!) Seeing Andrea again was so healing for me, and I hope that we will get to see her and the girls more. You have so many people watching out for them down here, and I know that you are taking good care of them from up there! Ethan is coming home in a couple of weeks. Would you mind keeping up your watch over him too? Chelsea is getting married next May, and you would love her fiance Eric. Andrea got to meet him at your memorial service. Just wanted to let you know that we continue to lift you up in honor and we will never, ever forget.

Deena, Chelsea, and Ethan Spradlin

Deena Spradlin
A Friend

March 24, 2008

Kevin,
We must keep going each and every day as we know that is what you would of wanted. You were a special brother to me. I know you knew how much I loved you and I know how much you loved me. Your girls are just wonderful. I hope we continue to grow with your family. Your nephew Dillen is laid back and not much bothers him. Your nephew Dony is wired and loves basketball. He is the point guard at basketball. Your nephew JT reminds all of us of you and moving up fast in the Marines. Your nephew Trent is walking in your foot step’s just a different beat an official Fire Man. Your nephew Zack is a hard worker and loves to laugh. Your nephew Nick is just like his dad, very smart. Your niece Kels is head strong. Your niece Kristen is free at will. Your niece Megan has a little of you in her. As they all do. Your niece Christine is just like her dad, you would say. You would be so proud of all of them. Don will never forget the time playing golf with you at the Naval Base in Pensacola, Fla. And the impact you made on him. I will never forget our youth together because it was always just me and you. I will never forget all the life changes we went through together as we entered the adult world. I loved that I got a chance to live with you in Florida, and will never forget all the memories we shared together. This emptiness in my heart will never heal and my love for you will never go away. That night we will never understand or have a closure on. Just not knowing, WHY, is hard enough. We all love all the memories we shared and we will never forget the times we had with you. Once again Kevin I want to say how proud we are of you and how much you are loved and missed. Kevin, I am so sorry! I miss you so much.
Love, your sister
Amanda

Amanda
sister

March 13, 2008

I'm in news monitoring & analysis and in some of my work this morning, I happened to be watching a newscast that showed the dedication for Deputy Carper. I don't live in your state and it's by mere chance I learned of this sacrifice and the beautiful appreciation that was shown in your local community recently.

I, too, am a survivor. It's almost been 3 years for us and the pain still cuts so so deeply. I can't believe it actually has been almost 3 years, really. I can still remember the rain on the day of the funeral, and even the sun peaking through the clouds following the final shots.

A flag draped coffin is an image that means so much to so many, but to us, our brother, husband, sister, mom, dad, wife, daughter, son, friend, and fellow officer is in there. Someone who made us laugh and helped us when we cried. Someone who brought so much to our life just by existing in it with us. Someone who just wanted to be a cop and didn't really realize the sacrifice that could and would be made, one that would make them a hero to so many, when they were "just Pete" to us.

Peter will be forever 27. He was killed on a Wednesday morning. I will never forget that Wednesday. I will never forget one of his fellow officers, standing outside his memorial alone, smoking a cigarette between sobs. Those are the things that a flag draped coffin means to us in the police world.

So much beauty and wonder has been experienced in our lives in the last 3 years, but sometimes, in those quiet moments, the absence of Peter is felt so strongly. I wish I could take your pain away. I wish I could keep another officer's loved ones from having to go down this road in anguish. But this is what we do. We kiss our officer goodbye knowing he/she may not return. We know that they only want to give back and do their best and who can fault them?

I have every confidence in the world that Peter welcomed Kevin into Heaven with open arms. Lord only knows the kind of trouble these guys get into up there :)

I just really wanted to leave a reflection and let all of you know that from there to here and beyond, the loss of Kevin is felt greatly. We will always remember. We will always be in debt to his sacrifice, and YOURS, because a man's dying is more the survivors' affair than his own, right?

I'm so proud of our men and women in blue on the frontlines everyday in our own cities and communities. I'm so proud of how they carry on with such strength and hope and honor. I'm proud of Kevin. I'm proud of Peter. I just wish missing them wasn't so hard sometimes. My prayers for peace and healing and comfort for your family begin today until the day I join them in Heaven.

God Bless,
LEO Wife and survivor of Peter Grignon EOW 3/23/05
Louisville, KY
Genesis 50:20

February 28, 2008

Kevin,
I never had the privilege of meeting you or working with you, but I still feel the need to honor you on this, the first anniversary of your death. By all accounts, you were an amazing person, husband, father, deputy...one of unquestionable character.
Everyday I wear a bracelet in your memory, one that was given to me shortly after your death. It reminds me constantly that, as a dispatcher, my one responsibility is to do everything in my power to help ensure that "my guys" are able to go home to their families at the end of shift.
I pray constantly for your family, and for the SCSO, that their memories of you will continue to be a blessing to all who were fortunate enough to know you. Rest in peace, my friend...God bless...

Telecommunicator Tara Atkins
Greer Police Department

February 27, 2008

"The wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Proverbs 28-1.

RIP Kevin. The people of the county will always remember.

John MacDonald
Civilian

February 27, 2008

Kevin,
Well today it has been a year. I lived that night again in my head through out the shift. I couldn't seem to stop thinking about you. There isn't a day that we dont work that someone doesnt tell a funny story about you, or recall something you did. It are the memories that keep us going, and they thought of one day when we will meet again and walk Heaven's beat. We will cover our badges with mourning bands, we will cry and laugh today, but most of all, we will remember and be thankful. We will remember the time we got to spend with you, and we will thank God that he shared us with you. Most people now know about the last call I went on with you, and how you held that crying child till he stopped. Well we know that through this year, you have been holding us as we cried and laughed. And it is our prayer that you never let us go. Till we meet again brother. We miss you W-24.

Deputy Sheriff M. B. Letterman
Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office

February 27, 2008

Today on the 1st anniversary of your death, we pause and say a prayer for you and those you left behind.
Your dedication and sacrifice have not been forgotten.
Rest in peace DS.
Chief John Roelandts (retired)
Deborah Roelandts (911 retired)
Oconomowoc Wisconsin

Chief John Roelandts (retired)
Town of Oconomowoc

February 27, 2008

kevin, i miss you so much??/ i hope the girls really will understand what a wounderful soul you really are. i know it will be hard with the familys so far apart. we we're all so close growing up, everybody was family, no 'mater' where we where.? it's so hard not seeing your children every-day-few weeks, or a month, i remember you staying so often with zach,jt,and kels, the pics, florida, it seems just like yesterday. the beach, golfing, fishing, bowling... family cook-outs, the gatherings are few. but when they are, family pictures are the best mems. all my love too, kyleigh,katie,caroline, and andrea, t, iwuvu:}

sis

February 26, 2008

In loving Memory

One of South Carolina
Finest Deputy Sheriff
Kevin Earl Carper
11-19-1967 to 2-27-2007
Thank you for all you gave. Today we will celebrate your life and all the memories we hold dear. We will not think about our sorrows. As we know you are near. You were a very special son, father, husband, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, brother-in-law, friend, a brother in blue and a true hero. Never forgetting you.
We miss you so very much
Your loving, sister
Amanda Sweeney , and your Family

Amanda Sweeney
sister

February 26, 2008

Well, Kevin, its one day short of a year that I got that call from Toby telling me that you had been shot. The guys and I wish we could turn back time and not have gone to training that day so that we could have been there with you. I don't know that it would have turned out any differently... The Bible says in Matthew , "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God... Blessed are those who are persecuted for justices' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Well, son of God, how are things in the kingdom of heaven? I'm, sure you've got a nice mansion. For those of us here, God promised that He would never give us more than we could handle. I guess some are still getting through it but will never get over it.
(Oh, yeah, your railroad track "friend" changed his mind about turning himself in the other day and I had to chase him through the jail parking lot and across the street. Don't worry - he went 10-95!)
I heard a song the other day that I haven't heard since my grandpa died many years ago. I don't remember the title, but it seemed to fit.
"I will be walking one day down a street far away, and see your face in a crowd and smile. Knowing how you made me laugh, hearing sweet echoes of you from the past. I will remember you."
You will always be W24 and we will always remember you. Watch our backs until we meet again.

1st Sergeant Wendy Bradley
Spartanburg Co Warrant Team

February 26, 2008

I can't believe it has been a whole year. 12's zone warrants box sure misses you I can assure you. We, both your real family and your sheriffs office family think of you every day. The job goes on, life goes on....but you will never be forgotten. I know your in a better place and that the ways of God can't be questioned. I pray for your family as I know you would pray for mine. I will see you again someday. Until then, Rest in Peace my friend.

fellow warrant officer
spartanburg county sheriffs office

February 24, 2008

Kevin,

I cannot believe that this Wednesday, it will have been a year since that horrible day. You were such a great deputy and you left such a great, lasting memory with the Sheriff's Office. No matter how many years pass, you will NEVER be forgotten. God Bless you ,Kevin, and your family.

Stephanie

February 24, 2008