Legacy and memory of Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy lives on
The M 17 scholarship was started to honor the memory of Deputy Dylan Pickle.
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – Debi Pearson says the latest recipient of the Dylan Pickle M 17 Memorial Scholarship reminds her of her son.
“He looks just like Dylan, the other day I saw him, and when he walked away from me, I broke down and cried, looked just like Dylan, walking away,” Pearson said.
Pickle was struck by a vehicle and killed while manning a safety checkpoint in July 2020. His mother started an annual beauty pageant to raise money for scholarships. The scholarships help future law officers pay for the lice academy.
Josh Randall has been working as a jailer at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for nine months. Randall is the recipient of the latest M 17 scholarship.
“If it wasn’t for the scholarship, I probably wouldn’t be able to go, but with Ms Debi doing what she has done for three years, it has made it possible for people to go without paying out of pocket,” Randall said.
Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook says Randall has been preparing for his next step for months.
“He has been training in his spare time, wife has lent him out to a lot of training over last nine months,” Crook said. “He is geared up and ready to go. There are a lot of similarities between Dylan and Josh, and we will see more of those over time, as he finishes the academy. He knows this is a weight that comes with this, not just going to the academy hoping to do good. There’s a weight, walking in those footsteps and he has accepted that and is ready to make it happen.”
Randall says he is honored to get the scholarship and is looking forward to the police academy and serving the citizens of Monroe County.
“Feel like as a resident of this country, we all owe a little bit, whether it is a four-year stint, or I retire doing this I can say that some years of my life was spent protecting our community, making it where our kids can safely ride their bikes around the neighborhood and continue to hang out in streets as we used to,” Randall said.
Although Randall never knew Deputy Pickle, he promises to work hard at the academy and do his best to serve and protect Monroe County, carrying on the legacy of M 17.
