TOLEDO, Ohio — It's been four years since the death of Toledo Police Officer Anthony Dia in the line of duty.
Anthony Dia was fatally shot while responding to a call of an intoxicated person in the parking lot of Home Depot in west Toledo on July 4, 2020.
As a father to two boys, a husband and a son, the family that was left behind said Anthony Dia's death has not gotten easier despite it being four years.
"It doesn't feel like four years as a parent and I'm sure as a sibling, a wife, it feels like it just happened yesterday and the pain and the heartache are still the same," Anthony Dia's mother, Gina Long, said.
Anthony Dia's wife, Jayme Dia, said she is feeling emotional today as she struggled this morning preparing for the day.
"People say 'you're so strong and you make it look so easy,'" Jayme Dia said. "I have people reach out to me and ask for advice."
But she said she doesn't have any advice for those going through the same thing, as she is still finding the strength everyday.
"I have no choice but to get up and you know take care of my kids," Jayme Dia said. "So I just try to find little moments that I can and make the best out of everyday that I can."
For Jayme Dia, that is how she gets through the death of her husband.
Long said she gets through it by doing things in her son's name so they never forget it.
Every year on this day, the family passes out a total of 118 hotdogs to people at Home Depot where the Unit 118 officer was shot.
"Give back in your loved one's name. Like I do this, I foster puppies," Long said. "I do this all for my son, all for his memory, all to make him smile in heaven, and good deeds in the Muslim religion, they say it takes him to a higher level in heaven."
Anthony Dia's last words were "tell my family, I love them," which was on the shirts of many in attendance and carried in the hearts of many more.
"My hero," Anthony Dia's son, Younes Dia, said. "He was the greatest father ever born."
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