Deputy Brandon Sikes Legacy Was About Caring, Protecting And Serving Others

Deputy Brandon Sikes lost his life in the line of duty on April 26, 2025 on I-20 in Columbia County. He was gunned down while he and three other deputies conducted a traffic stop not far from the Belair Road exit. Deputy Gavin White was also shot and was listed in critical condition, but despite several surgeries in his future, White continues to recover. A senseless tragedy while deputies were simply trying to do their jobs, until they were confronted by a monster, as Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle put it.

Sikes, who died at the scene, was honored Monday at the Performing Arts Center in Evans during a funeral attended by a who's who of state and local officials, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. The packed auditorium was filled with a sea of law enforcement officers from near and far. The majority never knew Sikes, but he was their brother.

If you learned anything from Sikes' funeral, you left knowing that law enforcement is a calling. It's a dedication to a lifestyle most of us could never understand. It's knowing that every time you leave your home for work, you're putting your life on the line. Whittle explained during the service that officers are told they could die in the line of duty. Do they expect to? No. But fortunately for the rest of us, it's a chance they're willing to take to keep the community safe.

Sikes joined the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in 2018 and worked in the Crime Suppression Unit. His brother, Thomas DeChant, gave the eulogy at the funeral and explained that Brandon's instinct had always been to protect others. Before working at the sheriff's office, Sikes served his country as a United Sates Army combat medic. His family wondered why it had to be combat, but DeChant explained that's just what defined Brandon. His life was about commitment, personal sacrifice, service and selflessness. DeChant said his brother believed in his heart there was no better way to protect his wife, Amber and their daughter, Lyndsey, than by protecting the community around them.

During the service, Whittle said, "It's a dangerous job, but somebody's got to do it. Somebody has to step in and bridge that gap between us and evil." Brandon Sikes died trying to do just that.

Sikes' flag-draped casket was on the theater's stage, flanked by two members of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard. They stood for more than an hour, heads bowed, hands crossed, and never moved a muscle.

After DeChant's eulogy and a touching video tribute of Sikes' life, Pastor John Kenney said to honor Sikes' legacy of caring, we as a community have a great opportunity to show we care.

"There's too much hate and negativity in our world, in our state and even in our county. It can change when it starts with each one of us," said Kenney.

Kenney challenged each person in attendance to start a movement in Sikes' honor for this to become "a community that cares." It's what Brandon Sikes life was about. Caring.

"It's what we do when we leave here today to honor the sacrifice that Brandon has made," Kenney concluded.

To the Sikes family and his family in blue, we are broken hearted with you. Thank you for caring about all of us.