'He would want us to go on': Family, LMPD honors Officer Zachary Cottongim one year after his death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The quiet over Cave Hill Cemetery was symbolic.

The somber minds and heavy hearts that came together Sunday remembered a life taken too soon.

One year ago, Louisville Metro Police Officer Zachary Cottongim went to check on a car, abandoned on the side of Interstate 64, when a driver hit the 29-year-old. His fellow first responders rushed him to UofL Hospital, but it was too late.

Cottongim is missed by his wife Jamie and their two boys. They all spent the day alongside Zach’s fellow officers, remembering him and leaning on one another.

"The only way that I know, to cope with that loss is to remind everyone of the good memories and to remind everyone of all the good that Zach did,” Commander Shannon Lauder said. “we've promised Zach that we wouldn't forget and that we would support his family. And so that's what this means.”

Dozens of LMPD officers, including outgoing police chief Erika Shields, attended Sunday’s ceremony. Cottongim’s former partner in LMPD’s First Division, Donna Morgan, spoke to the crowd about her longtime friend.

“One year, one whole year without Zach. One year without a smile, his contagious laugh—without him sharing a video of him playing with [his sons] Riley and Alexander,” Morgan said during the service. “As much as I miss him. I know he would want each of us to smile, open our eyes to loving our family and friends more and he would want us to go on.”

Described as both the funniest person in a room, and kindest – the type of person to go out of his way for anyone, expecting nothing in return. His closest friends and family said Zach’s good deeds continue to come as a surprise, even after 365 days.

"It was just really incredible the type of stories that have come out in the past year," Lauder said.

And, that legacy will live on, Lauder said, referencing her fellow colleagues’ pledge to one another “to be like Zach” everyday.

“What that means for us is to carry on his kindness. He saw what this job and this badge[meant],” she said. “There's a bigger purpose there helping people. So the platoon really has taken that personally.”