Slain WSP Trooper’s legacy lives on

It was October 7, 1999 when shots rang out near the intersection of 28th and Lewis in Pasco.

A short time later, Washington State Patrol trooper James E. Saunders was dead, leaving behind a pregnant wife and a 3-year-old daughter.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve, 2018...soon-to-be University of Washington graduate, Megan Saunders, gets a job offer at the WSP in Olympia. This spring, she will join the staff of the Government and Media Relations office, complete with an office window view of the memorial that bears her father's name...and all the others who lost their lives serving in Washington State law enforcement.

"I think he'd be really proud", Megan Saunders reflected during an interview with 610 KONA. "He definitely dedicated his life to the Patrol, and I think he's looking down and I think he's proud."

Her mom, Billie, agrees. She told KING-TV in Seattle, "I think it's amazing."

A few years after the incident, Billie took Megan and her brother and moved to Renton where she raised both children. She did bring the family back to the Tri-Cities a few times, for the dedication of the memorial where Trooper Saunders passed away, as well as for the 10th anniversary of that fateful day.

Even though Megan was a toddler when her father's "end of watch" came, she has missed his presence...especially during her life's milestones.

"I didn't have him there for graduation, birthdays, that kind of stuff", she notes.

But, she did have the support of the WSP family. A handful of troopers did make those birthdays and her high school graduation, she recalls.

"I was sitting in the stands, waiting to graduate, and I look up and there is this sea of blue of all these troopers up there in the stands. They were waiving at me and when I walked across the stage, they were so loud cheering for me."

And as she moves into the next chapter of her life, Megan looks back at the Tri-Cities, not as the dark place that took her father, but one that was supportive of her and her family.

"It was really, really neat and really special when we were there to celebrate his life and to be there for us. So, even after all these years, his memory is still alive."