"I'm so proud of him and I hoping my youngest son excuse me," said Ron Jessup, the victim's father.
Ron Jessup could barely get the words out Monday afternoon as he struggled to comprehend his loss.
Last night the ex-marine got the knock on the door he'd been dreading.
His eldest son Kevin, a proud NYPD officer, was gravely injured.
Police rushed the Jessup's to Kevin's bedside.
"We were talking to him hoping he could hear our voices, you know his blood pressure was so low," Jessup said.
The debris on the Southern State Parkway tells the story of Officer Jessup's fate.
He'd been off duty, and driving with his girlfriend on a collision course with 20-year-old Jonathan Lopez.
State Police say Lopez was drunk, and speeding at over 100 miles per hour when he slammed into the couple from behind.
"Please don't talk to my client thank you very much," Lopez's lawyer said.
Monday morning, Lopez's lawyer and mother ducked Eyewitness News' questions outside arraignment court.
Prosecutors say the 20-year-old refused a breathalyzer test and had marijuana and a glass pipe in his car when he caused the crash that killed Kevin Jessup.
"He became a cop and it was his proudest day you know? He was so happy," Jessup said.
He'd gone to school to be a train conductor, but after September 11th, Kevin decided to become a cop instead.
For the past three years, he worked at the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, Queens, where now black bunting hangs over the front door.
As Ron Jessup prepares to bury his son who risked his life as one of New York's finest, and died far too soon.
"A great human being, great adult, great kid, great friend. Just great. That's how I want to remember him," Jessup said.
