Honoring fallen Richmond County deputy Christian Gandy

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017

(News 12 at 6 O'Clock / NBC 26 News at 7)

RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- There's no debris left on Old Waynesboro Road. Orange lines are all that’s' left to mark where investigator Christian Gandy lost his life in a motorcycle accident.

The only thing left behind are the broken people who loved him.

“The four-year-old is still little, but that 8-year-old knows when daddy is not coming home,” said J.D. Paugh Foundation Secretary, Sharon Taylor.

As quick a deer can cross the road, investigator Gandys' wife, a stay-at-home mom, lost her man.

Sharon Taylor understands the burdens the family faces, “She's going to need some help, you know, until she can get back on her feet. She's got two babies to take care of and raise.”

That's where the

, named after a fallen deputy, says they step in.

“There are going to be medical expenses that are not going to be covered, family expenses that are not going to be covered because she is a stay-at-home mom.”

Taylor tells News 12 that the Foundation donates 100 percent of what they've raised to the family, “We do a benevolence check right off the back so they can take that for bills, whether it's medical bills, household bills, groceries whatever they need.”

Taylor says it doesn't matter when or how a deputy falls, the brotherhood will always be there to pick their loved ones up.

“When something like this happens, you see that bond stronger than you ever see it.”

(News 12 First at Five)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Coroner Mark Bowen was on his way to a bridge on Old Waynesboro Road where a deadly motorcycle accident happened when he got a call…

The victim was someone he knew.

“We got on the scene, found out who it was. One of our own deputies in Richmond County, Investigator Gandy, Christian Gandy.”

A Richmond County investigator, a husband, and a father of two killed when a deer hit his motorcycle.

“It was pretty sad. Pretty emotional. Try to hold it like men, but you could see the hurt.”

Investigator Gandy leaves behind a three and eight-year-old and a young stay-at-home wife and mom.

“Having to process how you are going to tell that family and what you are going to tell them, it’s tough.”

The father of two was moving up quickly within the Sheriff’s Office. He got his start as a deputy in 2011, earning praise for taking lifesaving action in the line of duty. Within six years, he was promoted to investigator.

“He was a great guy. He was a great police officer. He was a great person.”

A great life ended too soon.