A memorial ceremony honoring Danny Hay was held on Friday.
At 10 a.m. on Friday, the Maysville-Mason County Cemetery Chapel was quiet with the exception of footsteps as officers with the Maysville Police Department marched to the front to present flags.
This was the beginning of the service to honor MPD Officer Danny Hay who was killed in action on Oct. 16, 1979.
Hay had been working the night shift in downtown Maysville when he was called to a grocery store in regard to a burglary. During the call, Hay was shot by Gary Wayne Wilson, who fled through an air duct but was later captured. Wilson was convicted and served 22 years of a 40-year sentence before being paroled.
During the memorial ceremony on Friday, former MPD Chief Kent Butcher spoke about the last time he saw Hay. Butcher and Hay worked closely together.
Butcher had been Hay’s trainer and worked closely with him for about 10 months.
“It’s been 44 years,” Butcher said as he started his speech. “I’ve been looking through some pictures and Danny looked so young. He was young. That’s the last way I saw him. Danny became a dispatcher in August of 1976, the same year I became a police officer.”
Butcher looked solemn as he spoke about the last night he saw Hay.
The night was Oct. 15, 1979. Butcher had worked the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift for the department. He was tired and ready to go home and had asked Hay to give him a ride home.
“It was a kind of cool night,” he said. “My shift ended at 11 p.m. It had been one of the busiest Mondays I can remember. I was tired. Around 11:30 p.m., I called Danny for a ride to take me home. He said he would. I remember asking him, ‘Is it just you and George Chambers on tonight?’ He said yes.”
Butcher said he was concerned about Hay and Chambers being the only two on shift because Hay had only been with the department for 18 months and Chambers had only been there for six weeks.
“It was a lot different in the ’70s than it is now; a lot more dangerous,” Butcher said. “It was the worst decade for police officers. A lot of officers were killed in that decade. And, between the two of them, they had less than two years on the streets. I was worried about that. But, by 11:30 p.m., things had calmed down.”
Still, Butcher was concerned, so instead of going straight home, he chose to ride with Hay for a couple of hours.
Sometime around 12:45 a.m. to 1 .m., Butcher was tired and ready to go home.
“We sat and talked for a while in his car. He put his arm against his door and I put my hand on his arm and told him not to take any chances,” Butcher said. “He said, ‘You know I’m always careful’.”
After that conversation, Hay drove off. Butcher remembered watching Hay as he left. Just as Hay was turning left on Wall Street, he waved to Butcher.
“I had such an empty feeling in my stomach as I was climbing to my apartment,” he said. “The next time I saw Danny, he was lying dead on the cold floor of a grocery store. I still think if I had stayed just one more hour and a half, things might have been different.”
Butcher said Hay had been full of life and knew the path he wanted to take.
“Danny knew where he wanted his life to go. I love him still today. It still bothers me deeply that I didn’t stay that extra hour and a half,” he said. “Now, he’s 22 years old and I’m 74.”
After Butcher returned to his seat, Hay’s brother, Phillip Hay spoke.
Phillip Hay recalled why his brother enjoyed being on the police force.
“The main thing Danny loved about being on the police force was the commodore,” he said. “He considered them all friends. One time, our mom asked him who he liked the most. He said, ‘Mom, I like them all.’ He gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect us. I’m very proud of my brother. He enjoyed life, he enjoyed people. He enjoyed laughing.”
Phillip Hay ended his statements with a joke in honor of his brother’s humor.
After the service, MPD officers placed a wreath at Danny’s Hay’s gravesite.
