LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Walking up to the new landscaping outside of Louisville Metro Police Department’s Second Division was a bittersweet moment for LMPD Lt. Chris Watkins.
What You Need To Know
- LMPD’s Second Division unveiled monuments honoring Officer Peter Grignon and Detective Deidre Mengedoht
- The community supported the project through donations
- Concrete companies donated materials and services for the monuments
- The monuments will pay tribute to the sacrifices made by the two fallen officers
The monument project was once just an idea he had to honor a fallen brother and sister, Officer Peter Grignon and Detective Deidre Mengedoht.
“That's how their spirit and their memory lives on is to be able to rejoice in their lives and the choices that they made and the dedication that they showed for the community,” Watkins said.
The monuments represent the sacrifices of the two officers killed in the line of duty.
Officer Peter Grignon was a husband, son, and brother.
“Peter was an amazing man. He was very quiet because I’m very loud so we were a good mix. He always wanted to be in a profession that helped people,” said his former wife Rebecca Grignon Reker.
In 2005, just three days after their one-year wedding anniversary, Peter was responding to a hit and run report when he was shot four times by two suspects. He never made it home.
“I know he's in heaven, and I know he's having an amazing time and God has sent me another man that loves me and two little kids that think they're related to Peter,” says Grignon-Reker. “God has been very good to me, but you'll never forget, you always wonder what would have been.”
On Christmas Eve of 2018, Detective Deidra Mengedoht’s watch ended. She was a mother of a young son and one of the most caring people according to her colleagues.
“Deidre was one of the most loving officers in LMPD. From her victims out there on the street, if they needed food or needed a Christmas tree, she would go out and get it with her own money and make that happen for those people,” said Mengedogt’s seven-year colleague Justin Haydock. “To be able to have something that represents their ultimate sacrifice is absolutely beautiful.”
Mengedoht was killed when a tanker driver crashed into the back of her car, sending it up in flames.
Watkins said support and donations from the community and the LMPD Foundation made his vision a reality.
The concrete for the monument was donated by Advanced Ready Mix and was laid by Paradigm Concrete Designs free of charge.
“It’s really beautiful to see the [outpouring] and support from the community and be able to support a project like this to let us know how much we are genuinely cared about and loved and how much Peter and Deidre’s memories will live on in this community," Watkins added.
Grignon-Reker said the community’s support shows how much the police department is supported.
“I'm from upstate New York. Peter was from New Jersey and we met here, and I did not feel at home living until Peter was killed and this city just surrounded us," she said. "This became my home town."