Honoring Lt. Hempstead: End of Watch Ride recognizes LCSO officer

  • Motorcycle riders with the End of Watch Ride to Remember roll into Mayo on Saturday for a stop on the 79-day journey to honor Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Lonny Hempstead, who passed away last August from complications due to contracting covid-19. (JACK HOWDESHELL/Special to the Reporter)
    Motorcycle riders with the End of Watch Ride to Remember roll into Mayo on Saturday for a stop on the 79-day journey to honor Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Lonny Hempstead, who passed away last August from complications due to contracting covid-19. (JACK HOWDESHELL/Special to the Reporter)
  • A blue rose sits next to the picture of Lt. Lonny Hempstead on the Beyond the Call of Duty’s memorial trailer that is part of the End of Watch Ride to Remember. The rose was placed there by Geraldine Adkins, Hempstead’s mother. (JACK HOWDESHELL/Special to the Reporter)
    A blue rose sits next to the picture of Lt. Lonny Hempstead on the Beyond the Call of Duty’s memorial trailer that is part of the End of Watch Ride to Remember. The rose was placed there by Geraldine Adkins, Hempstead’s mother. (JACK HOWDESHELL/Special to the Reporter)

    MAYO — The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office — and Lafayette County in general — took a hit 11 months ago.

    That loss — when LCSO Lt. Lonny Hempstead died from complications with con…