SPRINGDALE, Ohio — A little over a week since she was killed in the line of duty, Springdale Police Department's Officer Kaia Grant was laid to rest Sunday morning.
Grant, 33, was an eight-year veteran of the Springdale department who was born and raised in Wyoming, Ohio. The 2005 Wyoming High School graduate is the first Springdale officer killed in the line of duty, police said.
Her funeral procession started at Spring Grove Funeral Home and ended at Vineyard Church in Springdale. The route went through various neighborhoods to allow people to attend the procession while maintaining social distancing.
Grant is the 10th area officer to die in the line of duty since 2000, according to the Police Museum website. It lists two other women – both jail matrons – killed on the job more than 100 years ago, Rosa A. Regan in 1908 and Anna M. Hart in 1916.
Grant was killed by a driver fleeing pursuing officers on Interstate 275 last Saturday night. Springdale Police later identified the suspect as 42-year-old Terry Blankenship.
An official with the Springdale Police Department said the pursuit started from a traffic stop by Elmwood Place police. Blankenship had a felony warrant out of Blanchester.
