TOLEDO, Ohio — With the death of Officer Brandon Stalker on Monday, a family was taken back to a night six months ago when Officer Anthony Dia died in the line of duty.
They were both 24, both young fathers to two children, both in the same Toledo police class and both died serving their city.
"Being at the hospital felt like I had lost another child. Maybe because of his age, maybe because he's in the same class with Anthony, but when I looked at him, he resembles Anthony a little bit," Tony Dia said.
Those are the words of a father, still in mourning half a year later after his son was killed on July 4, 2020.
Tony Dia grapples with those thoughts and says he wants to be there for Stalker's family.
"Be proud he's a brave young man. It's unfortunate that it's going to be hard, it's going to be a rollercoaster ride, keep faith and be proud of him," Dia said.
Dia also believes big changes need to be made to keep officers safe, pointing to the deaths of these two young officers in such a short time.
"Before you pass a law, before you make a decision on a law, as a lawmaker, you know what? Go on a ride along, go do a real-world scenario and make a decision instead of sitting behind a desk in your plushy chair," Dia said.
Dia says the community's spirit is the one thing that's kept him going since July 4, finding comfort in the kindness for the Stalker family.
"You know, the only thing that really helped was the support and hopefully that's what we can bring to the Stalker family," Dia said.