Twenty-three North Carolina state troopers killed in the line of duty will be honored when the state’s department of transportation renames bridges in their honor. The North Carolina Department of Transportation partnered with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol after discovering the fallen officers had been overlooked for the bridge naming honors.
“For many years, North Carolina has been naming bridges to honor law enforcement officers killed on the job,” North Carolina Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a press release. “But for many different reasons, 23 officers were never honored. We’ve been working with the state highway patrol since last spring to make sure these officers are properly recognized for their sacrifice.”
During his monthly update to the North Carolina Board of Transportation, Hopkins played an NCDOT-produced video of the bridge naming effort and informed board members his agency expects to have all 23 officers honored by the end of 2025.
In its 96-year history, 70 members of the State Highway Patrol have died in the line of duty. Col. Freddy Johnson, commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, had initiated this effort after hearing from several family members who lost loved ones but did not receive bridge dedications.
“We felt that it was very important to get everyone recognized for the sacrifice that they made,” Johnson said. “To the families, it's like it happened yesterday, and to see the heartfelt thanks from them has made this project so worthwhile.”
Honoring the Fallen Officers
When law enforcement officers or emergency responders are killed in the line of duty, typically a family member or friend will complete an application and petition their local government to pass a resolution requesting that the state name a bridge to honor the fallen officer.
The local resolution is then referred to NCDOT. In these cases, the department’s staff works with the highway patrol to research the officer and the circumstances of the officer’s death. In following state policy, NCDOT staff must ensure the request has strong support from the local community and the family.
NCDOT staff drafts a resolution, which is considered by the board of transportation. If the board approves the resolution, NCDOT staff will work to coordinate an event to officially dedicate the bridge.
Since the project began in the spring of 2024, NCDOT has completed all but seven of the bridge dedications.
Significant Research Effort
This bridge naming effort was a major undertaking because of the extensive research needed to identify the fallen officers and verify their stories with community members and family of the officers, said Shelly Heath, of NCDOT.
Heath, the staff contact for the board of transportation’s Road and Bridge Naming Committee, and her supervisor, Brian Mayhew, NCDOT’s State Traffic engineer, have worked with the highway patrol on the initiative since the spring of 2024.
Heath said it was difficult to locate family and friends of the fallen, several of whom were killed many decades ago. Like Patrolman Isaac T. Moore, who was shot to death near Goldsboro in 1937 while questioning two men hauling a load of meat in a stolen vehicle.
It’s not clear why some officers were overlooked. In some cases, family or friends started but then did not complete the application. In other cases, people may not have realized that such an honor even existed. For a long time, that was the case for the family of Trooper Jackie Daniel. Daniel was killed in 1994 after a tractor-trailer hit his cruiser while he was helping a stranded motorist in Charlotte.
When Daniel’s daughter, Ashlyn LaTurno, realized her father could be honored in this way, she said she was proud.
“It means that when people see his name, they’ll know he was such a great man that served his community and would do anything for him,” LaTurno said. “It makes me and my family proud to know that my dad was such a legacy for all the works he did throughout the community.”
