TOLEDO, Ohio — A Special Olympics athlete is making sure two fallen Toledo police officers are not forgotten.
Matthew Pearson drew portraits of Officer Anthony Dia and Officer Brandon Stalker, both of whom were killed in the line of duty in the past year. Toledo police shared the images Tuesday on social media and said the drawings are hanging in the police station.
The end of watch for both officers are depicted on the drawings; July 4, 2020, for Officer Dia, and Jan. 18, 2021, for Officer Stalker.
Officer Stalker, 24, died after being struck in the head by a bullet while on perimeter duty during a standoff in central Toledo with an arson suspect. He left behind a fiancée and two children - a 7-year-old daughter and an infant son.
Stalker joined the Toledo Police Department in July 2018. He was a classmate of with Officer Dia, who was killed last summer.
An intoxicated suspect was holding a beer and walking around the Home Depot parking lot in the 1000 block of Alexis Road in West Toledo. As Officer Dia approached the man to check on him, the suspect turned and fired a gun, fatally wounding the officer.
The officers were the department's 31st and 32nd to be killed in the line of duty.