Community members pay their respects at memorial for Deputy Christopher Taylor

Why do we lay flowers for those we’ve lost? Clover Joscph and her mom said to offer a little comfort to those who are still here, grieving.

“We wanted to pay our respects to this family for [the] biggest sacrifice he could ever make,” said Joscph’s mom.

On Thanksgiving day, they laid down flowers at the memorial honoring Deputy Christopher Taylor.

“[I] just wish he was still here. Honestly, it’s just horrible,” said Joscph.

Joscph’s dad is a Charlotte County deputy who trains new recruits like Taylor.

“Once you become a part of this family, it’s hard to, like, lose someone who’s in that family. It’s just, it’s hard,” said Joscph.

The deputy leaves behind his parents and a fiancee.

“He was just a baby to have a long way left ahead of a minute, it’s pretty scary that he doesn’t get to get to do more for our community because, clearly, that’s what he wanted to do,” said Joscph’s mom.

Even though Joscph never met Deputy Taylor herself, she feels like she’s known him her whole life.

“They’re family. Once everybody is on the force, their brothers and sisters, and everybody rallies around one another,” said Joscph’s mom.

30-year-old Cassandra Smith from Lakeville, Massachusetts, is accused of killing Deputy Taylor after crossing three lanes of I-75 and hitting the back of his patrol car while he was conducting a traffic stop on the side of the highway.

The men and women who protect us risk their lives every day, and the families who love them live with fear every day that they may not come home.

“It’s always in the back of your mind that that phone call could be yours,” Joscph’s mom said.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran it through my head. One of my dad’s friends was coming knocking on the door, saying that, but you have a community to protect and serve,” said Joscph.

“I have four brothers in law who are officers. US Marshal, state patrol, police, and another police up in Pennsylvania. And when we saw this, it brings to home how much danger they put themselves in for the jobs that they do,” said Peter Sherwin, who also came out to pay his respects. “We’re glad we can just do something very small. Whether we were gonna be the only ones here or not was irrelevant. 23 years old. What a tragedy for his mom and dad, his fiancee.”