A corporal with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office died Thursday after battling COVID-19 for two weeks, the first casualty for the office since the pandemic began last year, according to The Advocate.
Cpl. Robert McKinney, 40, joined LPSO in 2011 and was assigned as a correctional deputy for the Livingston Parish Detention Center, according to Sheriff Jason Ard. He later became a shift corporal.
"If you knew him, you liked him," Ard said. "He was easy to like. Robert was always glad to be at work and loved the people he worked with. He never met a stranger and loved serving and protecting the people of Livingston Parish. He was proud to wear the badge."
Ard said McKinney often told stories to his coworkers about his wife and daughter, whom he loved dearly.
His wife, Leslie, has spent the last few weeks documenting McKinney's struggle with the virus on social media.
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"Please continue to pray for not only our family but the other families that are hurting," his wife said. "Pray for the (doctors) and nurses as they try to fight this battle."
Ard offered condolences to McKinney's family and asked people remember them in their prayers.
"There won’t be another like McKinney," he said. "We will all miss him at the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office."
Livingston Parish has a high level of community transmission amid the pandemic's fourth surge and a low percentage of vaccinated residents, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
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