BATAVIA, Ohio — Thanks to the determination of Madison East, a West Clermont High School student, a new memorial garden dedicated to Det. Bill Brewer has been unveiled.
Brewer was shot to death in February during a 12-hour standoff in Clermont County. He had been part of a team responding to a Pierce Township man’s false claim his apartment was being burglarized — and he became a casualty when that man, 23-year-old Wade Winn, turned a gun on first responders who attempted to enter the apartment, according to Clermont County Prosecutor Darren Miller.
The project has since been completed and graces the outside of the Batavia Community Center, featuring a bench swing honoring Brewer surrounded by a small garden.
East previously said the project started as a bid to earn her Girl Scouts Gold Award, but she felt compelled to see the project through to the end because she felt her community needed it.
“I want to have a gathering place that you could just feel like family,” she said, adding she feels driven to honor Brewer’s memory “because he sacrificed his life to protect ours.”
East didn’t know Brewer personally, but she remembers seeing him around. She also has law enforcement workers in her immediate family, she said.
“I want them to feel like it's okay to show their true emotion instead of having the 'cop face' that everybody knows,” she said.
