Remembering TFC Aaron Pelletier one year after he was killed in the line of duty

It's been one year since Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier was killed in the line of duty. It’s a loss that Connecticut State Police and communities throughout Connecticut feel to this day.

“Not a day passes that I don't think about May 30,” Geri-Lyn Dubay, of Plainville, said.

On May 30, 2024, Dubay was driving on Interstate 84 when the lives of many would change forever. She witnessed Alex Oyola-Sanchez's car swerve over the line, hitting and killing TFC Pelletier while he was conducting a traffic stop.

"I called 911 and immediately pulled up next to Alex Oyola-Sanchez in the red truck,” Dubay said. "I spoke to him briefly and realized at that moment that he was going to flee the scene."

She gave real-time updates to the 911 dispatchers and followed Oyola-Sanchez as he fled. Once he stopped a few exits further, she told other good Samaritans who pulled over to protect themselves and keep moving.

"I believe I was in the right place at the right time,” Dubay said.

It was one phone call and a string of choices that would stick with her every day that followed.

“It breaks my heart for Dominique [Pelletier] and her two young sons,” Dubay said.

"He was taken from us while he was trying to protect others,” said Capt. Kate Coney, with the Connecticut State Police.

In the year since Pelletier's death, Oyola-Sanchez, who was found to have taken fentanyl, cocaine and Klonopin before the incident, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after accepting a plea deal.

Pelletier has been honored in memorials and ceremonies here in Connecticut and in Washington D.C. and is remembered by his hometown of Southington.

"He truly was somebody who had the most infectious laugh, you knew when he was in the building,” Coney said.

State police say he's someone on the force and in the community who is missed every single day, especially remembered for his role as a mentor.

"His legacy is a teacher. So many of our youngest troopers who had the opportunity to train with him -- they felt this impact,” Coney said.

A year may have passed, but for those who loved Pelletier, and for those who were there on that day, it feels like yesterday.

"It was a tremendous loss to lose Aaron,” Coney said.

"It has changed me to make me more aware that life is so precious,” Dubay said.

Pelletier's wife, Dominique, shared a statement with us thanking the community near and far for the support in this past year.

“There is not a moment that Aaron isn’t thought of, he will truly never be forgotten. We miss him more than ever now that the dust has settled and we are finding a routine in our new lives. We will all never have a “new normal” without the glue that held us together,” she said.

See her full statement here: