A heart-wrenching photograph of fallen Colorado Trooper Jaimie Jursevics’ infant daughter is making rounds online as a strong message against drunken driving.
“For anyone who is planning on just having a ‘few beers’ and driving home after, look at this little girl,” the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
The photo shows 8-month-old Morgan Lynn Jursevics surrounded by her mother’s uniform and toying with the fallen trooper’s hat perched on her head.
The sheriff’s office posting, made Sunday morning, had been shared more than 7,000 times by Monday evening when the Colorado State Patrol began circulating the photo.
The patrol says the photo was taken before Jursevics was killed Nov. 15 by a suspected drunken driver on Interstate 25 in Castle Rock.
Authorities say 52-year-old Eric Peter Henderson, a retired Army colonel, spent the day drinking at a Broncos game in Denver before he hit Jursevics.
Henderson was arrested in the case and faces allegations of driving drunk, vehicular homicide and hit-and-run. He was released Wednesday after posting $500,000 bail.
Jursevics was remembered Monday at a memorial service in Englewood attended by hundreds of law enforcement officers from throughout the country.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
