November 28, 2012

Flags lowered to honor state police trooper

Under a proclamation signed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, the United States flag and the Illinois flag are to be at half-staff at all State of Illinois facilities in honor of a Illinois State Police trooper killed Monday near Litchfield.

Flags are to be flown at half-staff from sunrise, Thursday Nov. 29 until sunset, Saturday, Dec. 1, in honor of Trooper Kyle Deatherage of St. Jacob.  Deatherage, 32, a motorcycle officer, was standing on the shoulder of the northbound lane of Interstate 55 near Litchfield, when a passing tractor-trailer truck hit him.  Deatherage had stopped another vehicle and was talking to that driver when he was hit.

Deatherage had been a member of the Illinois State Police since May 2009.  Prior to that, he worked for the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Staunton Police Department.  He was a 1998 graduate of Triad High School.