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Son of Fallen Deputy Sworn In; Jail Renamed In Father's Honor

William Truesdale | Courtesy Alexandria Sheriff's Departmen

ALEXANDRIA, VA – With bagpipes playing and tears flowing, Zita Truesdale Noyes steps out into the sunlight and travels back thirty years to a winter day in 1981.

It was the day her husband, William, became the only sworn member of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office ever killed in the line of duty.

Their son, Kevin, is 30-years-old now. At the time of his father’s death, he was just a baby.

A brick wall on Princess Street in Old Town is about all that’s left of what was the Alexandria jail. This is the location where Deputy William Truesdale was bringing three inmates back from the courthouse.

As they approached the entrance, one of the inmates grabbed the deputy’s gun and shot him in the chest. But that is not where this story ends.

That boy who was six months old when his father died was sworn in today as an Alexandria Sheriff’s deputy himself.

“It automatically feels like home to me. Like this is where I need to be,” says Truesdale.

Even more like home now that the Alexandria Detention Center bears his father’s name.

“Whoa. That was really emotional,” says Zita Truesdale Noyes of watching the black bunting pulled away to reveal her husband’s name on the front of the building.

Kevin says he is “very, very” proud of his Dad today. “It speaks volumes. If someone can have this kind of ceremony dedicated to them, it tells you a lot about their life,” says Kevin.

This new “Deputy Truesdale” is a dad himself. But he still answers to a worrying mom.

“I say ‘When you get off work call me’. Worrying like all moms? I will. You see my gray hair. It’ll be worse," says Zita.

Kevin says, as a deputy, he will forge his own path, but always be his father’s son.