LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One by one, dozens of officers, firefighters and grieving family members placed flowers on a makeshift memorial Thursday, an LMPD cruiser wrapped in a black and blue sash and dedicated to a beloved fallen hero.
The impromptu ceremony happened in a fitting place: the Second Division headquarters in west Louisville where friends and coworkers say Det. Deidre Mengedoht made a big difference.
"She could not stand to see good people victimized, and that's why she chose the profession she did," said an LMPD chaplain who addressed the crowd. "Deidre chose this district from recruit school, and she could have left this district. She could have put in a transfer, but she chose not to."
Mengedoht died in the line of duty on Christmas Eve when police say Roger Burdette crashed into the back of her police cruiser on I-64 downtown. Police have charged Burdette, an MSD worker, with murder and driving under the influence.
But right now, the top priority is honoring a life that won't be forgotten with a memorial that's likely to grow leading up to her funeral.
"I think it's just because she was just that magical of a person," said Fraternal Order of Police River City Lodge 614 President Nicolai Jilek. "We've been fielding a lot of questions from the community and folks that Deidre really affected and had an impact on their lives, and they were wanting to have some way to express that."
During the ceremony, the FOP, LMPD officers and even Louisville firefighters embraced grieving members of Mengedoht's family and showed them they're family now.
"Her family will forever be a part of ours," Jilek said.
But the memorial is for the community too. It's a place for all to remember a detective who friends say channeled her anger of crime in a righteous way.
"We honor our fallen like no other, and she will forever be honored in this area, in this division, in this city, like those that have fallen before her," Jilek said.
Mengedoht had served the community with LMPD for seven and a half years.
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