Multiple first responders were recognized at Paris’ City Council meeting on Monday night for their outstanding service, bravery, and sacrifice.
The awards were given by the Sons of the American Revolution Red River Valley Chapter, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and teaching American history to future generations.
Each recipient was presented with a medal and award certificate by Tom Mison, president of SAR Red River Valley Chapter.
The first honoree was Paris Fire Department Captain Drew Boren who received the Fire Safety Commendation Award.
Fire Chief McMonigle said, “Captain Drew Boren is a constant source of inspiration for firefighters in the Paris Fire Department. His attention and dedication to duty goes far beyond just working his normal shifts. In the past year, Captain Boren attended paramedic school of his own accord, passing and achieving National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians certification the first attempt. In addition to attending school outside of daily duties, Captain Boren is the lead SCBA technician for the department, ensuring Paris firefighters always have a safe and reliable source of breathing air that is crucial to firefighting efforts. Captain Boren is also a member of the Paris Fire Department’s Wildland Firefighting Team and has most recently been working on the front lines of the massive West Texas fires that have caused so much devastation and destruction. Captain Boren is an outstanding public servant, leader, firefighter and person in general who contributes daily to the safety and well-being of our community.”
Paris EMS Deputy Chief Kellie Newman received the Emergency Medical Services Award.
“Deputy Chief Newman contributes daily to the success of City of Paris Emergency Medical Services. She is currently assigned as Shift Commander over B-shift and ensures that her people are properly trained, equipped, and motivated to serve the people of Paris and Lamar County to the very best of their ability no matter what the need or situation. She leads from the front and inspires not only her crews but crews across the entire department. Deputy Chief Newman has been instrumental in bringing the Fill The Boot campaign back to life after COVID. The Fill The Boot Campaign partners with Salvation Army, CASA for KIDS, Children’s Advocacy Center, and many others to buy Christmas gifts for Lamar County children and provide comfort items for victims of child abuse. This program that is so impactful to the children of our area may have withered and died if not for the determination and dedication of Deputy Chief Newman. She is also a founding member of a peer support group formed to assist first responders in our area of Texas, a much-needed service designed to bolster the mental health of first responders and ensure they are able to lead happy and productive lives both on and off the job. Deputy Chief Newman is the very personification of a public servant and a servant leader dedicated to the health and well-being of our citizens and our personnel,” said McMonigle.
Paris Chief of Police Richard Salter then introduce Sergeant Dustin Calhoun, who received the Law Enforcement Award.
Captain Doug Thompson shared how Sgt. Calhoun played a pivotal role in solving a fatal hit and run case.
“During the early morning hours of September 29, 2023, a hit and run accident occurred in the 3900 block of Lamar Ave which resulted in the death of an 81-year-old pedestrian. The only actionable lead was a mirror left at the scene by the striking vehicle. This mirror was matched to a 2006-2010 Hyundai. Officer Calhoun (Promoted to Sergeant) through his own imitative and in his spare he followed up and through good basic police work identified witnesses who were familiar with the person who drove the striking vehicle, who was eventually identified by Officer Calhoun as Rodney Willis, a popular local radio station disc jockey. They provided Officer Calhoun with a secondary vehicle description of a van that Willis drove on occasion to Scooters Coffee – a white older van resembling a radio station van. On October 2, 2023, while Officer Calhoun was checking the addresses of all known grey Hyundai Sonata’s registered in Lamar County, he noticed a van fitting the description provided by the witness and stopped it for a traffic violation. It was at this time that he identified Willis and the vehicle was registered to a local radio station. Through his interactions with Willis, he observed Willis to be very nervous. He checked historical records for interactions with Willis and discovered that Wills had a previous arrest for DWI during which he was driving a gray 2016 Hyundai. Officer Calhoun then coordinated with Sgt. Foreman who went by Willis’ house and discovered the 2016 gray Hyundai that was ultimately identified as the hit and run vehicle. Officer Calhoun’s investigative instincts and very savvy interview skills was pivotal in solving this fatal hit and run case.”
Detective Lieutenant Leigh Foreman also received the Law Enforcement Award.
On 3-01-2024, the Paris Police Department announced the arrest of David Paul Cady for the brutal murder of Mrs. Mary Margaret Searight who was 81 years old at the time of her murder. Mrs. Searight was brutally beaten inside her home at 711 Pine Bluff in Paris, Texas on August 18, 1996. David Cady was initially considered a person of interest due to unexplained injuries to his right hand and inconsistent explanations about the injury. Investigators at that time obtained a Swab of Cady’s injured hand. Mrs. Searight, was air-lifted to Baylor Hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries three days later on 8-21-1996. In September 2023, Paris Police Lieutenant Leigh Foreman’s strong work ethic, dedication and commitment to excellence paid off when he took the initiative to review the evidence in the 28-year unsolved murder case and submit Swabs taken from Cady’s right hand to the Texas DPS Crime Lab for DNA Analysis. The results of this analysis indicate a very-high probability that Mrs. Searight’s DNA was present on David Paul Cady’s injured right hand on the day of the aggravated assault. Cady is currently incarcerated in the Hopkins County Jail on unrelated Felony Charges and will be charged, formally by the Lamar County District Attorney, Gary Young in the very near future for the murder of Mrs. Searight.” said Cpt. Thompson.
Dispatcher Robin Cannon and her supervisor Dispatch Supervisor Courtni McEntyre were both awarded the Life Savings Award.
Captain Terry Bull said, “On 2-5-24 at 11:08 am, Dispatcher Robin Cannon received a 911 call from a frantic mother in Sumner, TX where a 1-year-old toddler had escaped from their house without anyone realizing. The baby got into a pond behind a workshop on their property. The initial caller had a hard time providing the address so Dispatch Supervisor, Courtni McEntyre assisted by mapping the location while Robin worked to have family members begin CPR. The child’s mother was too hysterical to do anything so Robin directed the grandmother and aunt who were also on scene begin CPR on the child. He was blue and not breathing when they pulled him out of the pond. Robin coached both the grandmother and aunt through CPR with the grandmother doing compressions and the aunt doing breaths and encouraged them to keep going for 10 minutes before the child began breathing and before medical first responders had arrived on scene. Mrs. McEntyre auto-launched Air Evac 139 to the scene as soon as EMS was dispatched. The child regained consciousness and was flown out to Children’s Dallas. Both Robin Cannon and Courtni McEntyre did a phenomenal job taking control of the call through all the chaos on scene and was successful in getting CPR started within the first couple minutes and keeping it going until she was sure the baby’s breathing had resumed and it was responsive. This baby would not have lived had it not been for the, steady, professional and heroic actions of PPD Dispatcher Robin Cannon and her Supervisor Courtni McEntyre.”
Patrol Officer Coner Darnell, Patrol Officer Jeremy Helms, Patrol Officer Luiz Paxton, and Lieutenant
Shane Stone all received the Life Savings Award.
“On 09/13/2023 at approximately 4 a.m., while processing a defendant in the police department booking area, he became incoherent and unresponsive. Relying on their training and experience, Patrol Officer Darnell, Patrol Officer Helms, Patrol Officer Paxton and Lieutenant Stone responded by quickly assessing Mr. Huley’s physical symptoms and administered two doses of Narcan after directing dispatch to summon Fire/EMS support. After receiving the Narcan, Mr. Huley regained consciousness and became responsive again – indicating that your assessment of his condition was in fact spot-on. Mr. Huley was then transported to the Paris Regional Health Center where he received additional medical treatment. Patrol Officers Darnell’s, Helms’, Paxton’s and Lieutenant Stone’s attentiveness and quick actions saved the life of a man who would have likely succumbed to a drug overdose in a jail cell. For your heroic actions, you are all being recognized with this Life Saving Award,” said Cpt. Thompson.
Patrol Officer Jeffrey Rico also received the Life Savings Award.
“Patrol Officer Jeffery Rico is nominated for a Life Saving Award for being the sole initial officer at the scene of a shooting. Officer Rico, who has prior military combat medical experience administered critical live- saving first aid to the shooting victim while also controlling a frantic crowd, and ensured that any potential witnesses remained on scene. Unfortunately, the victim eventually succumbed to his injuries, but Officer Rico’s efforts kept the victim alive long enough for his organs to be harvested and used to save the lives of several others,” said Cpt. Thompson.
Officer Rico also received the Heroism Award.
Cpt. Thompson said, “During Calendar Year 2023, Officer Rico’s for an incident where he responded to a man who had climbed out on a ledge of an overpass bridge, intending to jump into oncoming traffic below. Officer Rico without hesitation or back up officers, took the individual initiative to climb out on the ledge with the man and talking to him in a comforting and non-threatening manner and convinced the man to come off of the bridge to safety.”
Lastly, Dispatcher Marina Helms and Dispatcher Erin Jusseaume both received the Bronze Good Citizenship Award.
Cpt. Terry Bull said, “On Saturday, 2-24-2024, Paris Police Dispatcher Marina Helms received a 911 call concerning an ATV roll-over accident in a very remote area neat the Red River known as the “Direct Bottoms” area in NW Lamar County. The caller reported that a female occupant in the ATV was lying face down and had previously broken her back in a different accident, and was bleeding from her head and her side. Because of the remote location, the caller could not provide a location or landmark. In addition, because the call came into the Paris PD as a forwarded call from another law enforcement agency, there was no geo-location or mapping data to determine the location of the victim. The caller had no idea where she was other than “Direct Bottoms in Sumner.” Dispatcher Helms, thinking “outside the box” asked the caller what kind of cell phone she used and instructed the caller on how to share her cell phone GPS location with Mrs. Helms personal cell iPhone – which successfully enabled Mrs. Helms to determine the exact location of the victim so that she could then dispatch Air Evac- air ambulance and other medical and law enforcement responders to their location. Mrs. Helms, with the assistance of dispatcher Erin Jusseaume was able to have the Air Evac launched within 6 minutes of receiving the 911 call. Dispatcher Jusseaume, overhearing Mrs. Helms conversation with the caller took the initiative to started calling Air Ambulance companies to put a helicopter on standby, which was turned out to be a good thing because the Air Evac Communications Center spent approximately 8 minutes location an available helicopter because the close one s we normally use were unavailable. The closest Air Evac Helicopter ended up coming out of DeQueen, AR with a 35 minute ETA from launch so Dispatcher Jusseaume requested their response and continued calling other medivac companies to see if they had any closer assets that could respond quicker. Without Mrs. Jusseaume’s self-initiative, the response time would have been at least 10 minutes longer.”
He added, “I would also like to add that Erin realized what was going on within a few minutes just by hearing what Marina was saying and without being asked started calling Air Evac to put a helicopter on standby, which was turned out to be a good thing because their dispatch spent around 8 minutes just trying to find an available helicopter because the close ones, we normally use were unavailable. The closest one ended up coming out of DeQueen AR with a 35 ETA from launch so Erin went ahead and auto-launched them to get them going but also went ahead and called other medivac companies (PHI & Flight For Life) to see if they had any closer than 35 minutes which it turned out they didn’t and so they kept the Air Evac helicopter coming. So, if she had only put them on standby and not auto-launched before calling those other companies they would have lost nearly 10 minutes of flight time to the scene. The victim survived her injuries.”
Congratulations to all the recipients.
