BARDSTOWN, Ky. – Five years later, the unsolved murder of police officer Jason Ellis still tears at the hearts of his widow, their two sons, his fellow officers and this small town.
No one here has forgotten the friendly 33-year-old Cincinnati-area native and K-9 officer - a one-time Reds minor leaguer who coached youth baseball after work, sometimes while still in his police uniform.
Likewise, no one has forgotten that the killer has gotten away scot-free.
Amy Ellis has been trying to get on with her life with her two sons - and making progress. She is engaged and plans to remarry this year. But there's no forgetting Jason, she says.
Amy spoke on behalf of her husband, herself and other police widows at a memorial service for fallen Kentucky officers Thursday night.
Amy Ellis speaks at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony Thursday night.
“At 31 years old, my world was shattered. We lost all our hopes and dreams. I was terrified and angry,” she said at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony in Richmond. “I have spent the past five years trying to crawl out of the fog and PTSD from my husband being murdered. These are the harsh realities of being a police officer widow. Our husbands swore an oath, but it was us who have made the sacrifices to make it possible.”
Amy said she wanted her husband to be remembered not just as a slain police officer but as a devoted, loving spouse and father.
“It’s important to all of us who loved him that he isn’t remembered just for being an officer killed in the line of duty,” Amy said. “We want to honor him for the life he lived. By not forgetting. We honor him by choosing to live a life that would make him proud. It is up to us to be sure the legacy of who they were and the way they served is not forgotten.”
Jason Ellis grew up in Batavia, Ohio, and graduated from Glen Este High School. He attended the First Baptist Church of Glen Este. After college and a brief pro baseball tryout, he became a police officer and worked in Bardstown for seven years.
Before Friday's ceremony, Amy Ellis spoke with WHAS-TV reporter Ana Rivers and saw her husband's name engraved on the monument for the first time.
“OK, I see it ... right here,” she said. “The sad thing is ... it just keeps on growing.”
On May 25, 2013, Jason Ellis was murdered on his way home from work about 2 a.m. He had just left the police department and was following his usual route, taking Exit 34 off the Bluegrass Parkway. Only he stopped his car on the exit ramp. That's when he was shot multiple times and killed.
Police said the killer set a trap for Jason, spreading debris on the exit ramp so Jason would have to get out of his car to clear it.
Police still don’t know who pulled the trigger or why. It's baffling to Amy Ellis.
"I don't know why," she told WLKY-TV. "The case has been so deeply investigated and it just doesn't make any sense."
Kentucky State Police were flooded with tips and tracked leads from coast to coast, but never made an arrest. They haven’t given up, though.
Last year KSP rehired two retired troopers to focus full time on the Ellis case and a handful of other unsolved cases in Nelson County, according to the Courier-Journal. State police continue to receive tips on the Ellis case, spokesman Scotty Sharp said, though he did not have specific numbers.
“Our main focus is Officer Ellis’ family,” Sharp said. “We want to solve this case for them and bring this person to justice and find out why they did this. We want closure.”
Amy Ellis said she and their two sons moved away from Bardstown for their safety and well-being. The boys, Parker and Hunter, were only 6 and 7 years old when they were robbed of their dad.
She remembers that the last time she saw her husband he was coaching Parker’s baseball team.
“I distanced myself from that so I could try to feel safe and bring my boys up as normal as possible, as I know Jason would want me to,” she said. “It is very frustrating. I don't like to go back because it feels heavy.
"I think every year I'm in a better place, but it never fails," she said. "The weather starts changing. The smell in the air, it brings you back to the day before, and then you just relive it, and it plays over in your head. Parker is playing baseball, and just this past week, being at the field kind of brought back the smells and the feel. The very last place I saw Jason was at the baseball field."
Amy is getting remarried in the next couple of months and she says she's stronger than ever. But she says she and the boys, now 11 and 12, will always carry Jason in her heart.
“We miss him and we love him,” she said. “I wish he could be here for the boys and see them grow up. He would be so proud of how they're growing up to be strong, resilient young men.”
Bardstown police held another ceremony Friday morning in Officer Ellis’ honor. Amy said she hopes the services and the attention will prompt someone to come forward with information about her husband's slaying.
"I don't want people to forget that, No. 1, it's not solved. And No. 2, I don't want people to forget how amazing he was as a person and a husband, brother, son and officer," she said.
Read WCPO's Award-Winning Report On Jason Ellis' Murder From Jan. 2014
WCPO.com reporter Jessica Noll spent over 100 hours interviewing law enforcement authorities, friends and family members about Ellis and his death. Noll poured over hundreds of documents, including police reports, the autopsy report and Ellis' death certificate. She listened to hours of police radio transmissions. She traveled four times to Bardstown, staying for multiple days, and interviewed Amy Ellis for more than six hours at their home.
