The news of a death penalty indictment against Lincoln Rutledge is a painful reminder for the family members of Columbus Police Officer Bryan Hurst.
Rutledge is accused of killing Columbus Police Officer Steven Smith during a standoff in April. The shooting happened more than a decade after Officer Hurst, an 8-year veteran, was also killed in the line of duty.
“It's something that we won't get over. Ever,” Steven McGann, Hurst’s first cousin said.
McGann choked back tears as he spoke of the tragedy.
“Here I am in my 40s and he was my cousin and I loved him,” McGann said. “And you can imagine how his brother still feels or his sister or his mom.”
Hurst was shot and killed during a bank robbery on East Broad Street. The 33-year old father was shot in the chest just above his vest.
“Pretty much killed in cold blood,” McGann said. “That was just the beginning. We had the trial to go through and the prep for the trial to go through.”
It took attorneys six long weeks of litigation to go through the trial. Meantime, McGann and his family were forced to relive the painful death. Daryl Lawrence was sentenced to death in the case.
“It was a dramatic setup,” McGann said. “When they announced 'death penalty,' my aunt just wept and just went into her lap and I think that was just from the relief of it all.”
Now, another Columbus family is faced with a similar process. Rutledge will be arraigned on all charges Friday.
“There is a community out there for the Smith family,” McGann said. “Not only the families who have lost officers in the line of duty but the entire community.”