Roll of Honor
Incident
Corporal Keith Slay was killed in an automobile crash while responding to assist another officer.
Corporal Slay and another officer were traveling north with lights and sirens in an unmarked truck on Veterans Parkway when another vehicle entered their lane and struck their vehicle at approximately 3:00 p.m. The truck left the road and slid sideways, striking a utility pole on the driver's side.
Corporal Slay was transported to The Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma. The other officer was critically injured in the wreck. Both officers were assigned to a multi-agency drug task force. In September 2015, the 74-year-old driver who caused the accident was sentenced to 12 months probation and retaking the driver's license examination.
Corporal Slay had served with the Columbus Police Department for 32 years, assigned to the Metro Narcotics Task Force.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, son, stepdaughter, mother, and father.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-779542F8- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
32 years. You could have gone home.
Corporal Slay gave the Columbus Police Department 32 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Columbus community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Corporal Slay.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Corporal Thomas Keith Slay is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In GA, 263 of 903 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Columbus Police Dept., 5 of 26 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 19.2% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Thomas Keith Slay's cause is highlighted.
How Thomas Keith Slay Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Thomas Keith Slay is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
25 officers from Columbus Police Dept. are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
