Four Georgia law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty during the first eight weeks of 2024.
That total is more than any other state has lost, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement deaths.
Trooper First Class Chase Redner was killed early Tuesday while investigating a crash on I-75 North near Mt. Zion Boulevard in Clayton County when he was struck by a vehicle, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Redner was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Others killed this year include:
Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office
Jan. 4: Deputy Eric Minix with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office died after being hit by an Alabama police officer’s patrol car as he stepped out of his own vehicle at the end of a chase, according to investigators. The deputy had been involved in a pursuit of a stolen vehicle on I-85 that extended into Chambers County, Alabama.
Minix, 31, is survived by a wife and three children.
“Eric loved his family, his kids and his job,” his father, Mark Minnix, told those gathered at Crossroads Church in Sharpsburg for his funeral. “I never heard him once complain about having to get up and go to work.”
Credit: Georgia Department of Public Safety
Credit: Georgia Department of Public Safety
Jan. 28: Trooper Jimmy Cenescar with the Georgia State Patrol died in a crash while attempting to stop a motorcyclist in Gwinnett County, according to investigators. He was 28.
Cenescar lost control of his Dodge Charger, which struck a guardrail, hit a DOT sign, traveled down an embankment and hit multiple trees and large draining rocks before striking a retaining wall, investigators said. He had to be extricated from the wreckage and was taken to Northside Gwinnett Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Days later, a man accused of driving more than 140 mph to get away from Cenescar was arrested and charged with murder.
Credit: Crawford County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Crawford County Sheriff's Office
Feb. 6: Crawford County sheriff’s Deputy Timothy Tavarus Rivers died after being involved in a two-vehicle wreck while on duty, investigators said. Rivers, 40, was responding to assist another officer around 10 p.m. when his patrol vehicle crossed into the opposite travel lane on Marshall Mill Road, about 20 miles southwest of Macon, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
Rivers, who ran for Bibb County sheriff in 2016, had been with the Crawford sheriff’s office since September 2022. He previously served with the campus police at Wesleyan College.
Crawford Sheriff Lewis Walker said the deputy, who had two children, had responded to a myriad of calls during his 17 months with the sheriff’s office, but never once received a complaint.
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