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LAPLACE — There’s been no moving forward or time to grieve for the families of fallen St. John the Baptist Parish deputies Brandon Nielsen and Jeremy Triche. They’ve relived the traumatic day that changed their lives time and time again for the past seven and a half years.

A lot has changed since the officers were gunned down in an early morning ambush on Aug. 16, 2012, but the justice system has been slow moving.

Kyle Joekel, one of two defendants, was recently found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by a Rapides Parish jury. The fight for justice is not over, as the other alleged gunman, Brian Smith, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and found incompetent to stand trial at this time.

Jeremy Triche’s mother, Edie Triche, said it’s still difficult to comprehend. She’ll always have a hole in her heart with her son gone, but she is grateful Joekel is getting what he deserves for his actions.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Edie said. “We’ve never been in a situation like this, so we didn’t know what to expect. It just brought back everything from that morning. We still have one more to go and we don’t know when that’s going to happen. All in all, we were pleased with the guilty verdict and the penalty he received for killing our son.”

The Nielsen family is hopeful they can finally experience a bit of closure.

“I’m happy about the outcome,” said Nielsen’s mother, Wendy. “I think it was a just penalty for what we’ve been through the last seven and a half years.”

She said it was justice not only for Nielsen and Jeremy Triche, but also Scott Boyington, Jason Triche and the other St. John Parish officers with horrific memories of the day.

Wendy Nielsen will never forget August 16, 2012. It started as a normal morning in their Fort Worth, Texas home. Around 7:30 a.m., Wendy received a phone call from her daughter-in-law, Daniell.

She was in hysterics, unable to form a single word. Then Daniell handed the phone off to her mother, who told Wendy her son had been killed.

“It was absolutely horrible,” Wendy said. “I had to call my husband at work. I didn’t want to say the words because I didn’t want to believe it was true.”

According to his family, Brandon Nielsen was a big jokester and a devoted father to his blended family of biological and bonus children. He was 34 when he was killed.

Nearly 2,000 motorcyclists participated in Nielsen’s funeral procession, illustrating the impact he had during his time on earth.

“He always wanted to be a motor officer,” Wendy said. “That was his dream since he was very, very little. When CHiPS was on, he wanted to be like Ponch. He had that kind of personality, so I think he actually became Ponch in a way. He always wanted to help people.”

Nielsen and his younger sister, JJ, were 11 years apart in age, but no one would ever guess it because of how close they were. They picked on each other and had each other’s back. During family meals, they would sit across the dinner table and text inside jokes.

JJ was eyeing a career in law enforcement before the murders. Now, she wishes her big brother were here to see his niece grow up.

“I can’t say this chapter is closed, but it’s more that we will be able to move forward, and it’s not lingering over us,” JJ said. “My brother was my best friend. He was a hero, and he’s very well missed.”

Nielsen’s father, Steve, said the fight for justice has been not only a severe psychological hardship, but also a financial hardship at times.

The family had to take off work, book a hotel room and make the eight hour drive for each court appearance, many of which only lasted an hour and brought no real progress.

“What really needs to be worked on is our justice system,” Steve said. “I’m not blaming the judges or even the defense, but the system somehow allows it to last seven and a half years.”

He hopes the execution is not a long and drawn out process.

Nevertheless, the family is thankful to the prosecution team and the St. John District Attorney’s Office for the support over the past several years.

Edie Triche said the hardest part of the trial was the penalty phase, when family members took the stand to talk about the impact the officers’ deaths had on their lives.

Edie remembers the last call she ever received from her son in the early morning hours of August 16, 2012, before his wife called and told her he had been killed.

Officer Michael Scott Boyington had just been shot nearby, and Triche called to tell his parents to lock their doors and stay safe.

Jeremy Triche’s father, Mike, and his widow, Misty, were present, along with his brother, sister-in-law and several other family members.

“We all stuck together,” Edie said. “It was heartbreaking. Especially through the penalty phase, we had to lift each other up because it was so hard to sit there and relive Jeremy’s life.”

According to Edie, Triche was a people’s person who got along with everybody. He loved his family, his canine companion, and early mornings spent fishing at his camp in Cocodrie. A few days short of 28 at the time of his death, Triche was survived by his 2-year-old son.

Law enforcement wasn’t Triche’s first career choice, but once he started working, he couldn’t imagine any other job.

“About two weeks before all this took place, his dad said maybe it was time to find another job with all the hate against police,” Edie said. “He told his dad, sternly, ‘I love my job.’ He said it’s beyond a calling. He felt so blessed to be able help somebody.”

Before the trial started, Edie received a Facebook message from a civilian who said Jeremy Triche had saved her life, and she was forever thankful.

Memorial foundations have been formed in both officers’ names.

Edie started the annual Spots and Dots fishing tournament in Cocodrie to raise money for the Jeremy Triche Fallen Hero Foundation. Going into its sixth year, the foundation has raised approximately $120,000 to provide financial assistance to injured heroes and to the families of fallen heroes.

“The funds go toward police officers, firemen, EMTs; anybody that performs in that line of duty,” Triche said. “We give back what we received when Jeremy was killed.”

Spots and Dots allows people to have a good time and enjoy something Jeremy Triche loved to do, according to Edie. She said the 2019 tournament saw support from 55 visiting law enforcement officers across various parishes. The 2020 Spots and Dots Fishing tournament will be held June 6.

The Deputy Brandon J. Nielsen Memorial Foundation seeks also to educate people about sovereign citizens and extremist groups, since their hatred for government caused the deputies to lose their lives.

A tree was planted in the deputies’ honor, and a portion of Airline Highway from LaPlace to Garyville was renamed the Deputy Brandon Nielsen and Deputy Jeremy Triche Memorial Highway.

“I don’t have to do this for my family to remember Brandon or the other officers,” Wendy said. “It’s really for everybody else to understand what our officers go through on a daily basis. In this day and age, it’s difficult for them. They’re not respected.”

St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre said there will be a permanent fallen officers memorial on the grounds of the new training facility currently under construction on Cambridge Drive in LaPlace. The design is still in the works, according to Tregre. The finished memorial will include either an eternal flame, bronze statues or marble columns.

The 2012 officer killings happened at the beginning of Tregre’s first term as sheriff, and he will never forget how it felt to tell families their loved ones had been killed.

“The outcome (of the trial) was what I expected. There really was no other choice,” Tregre said. “Hopefully the family has a sense of justice as I do. But, remember, there is one more defendant out there. Joekel had a decent childhood according to court room testimony from people who obviously loved him, but Joekel made choices that he is ultimately solely responsible for. Joekel could have run away from the group of Sovereign Citizens just as he fled from law enforcement prior to killing Brandon and Jeremy.”

The Jefferson, St. Bernard, Lafourche, Terrebonne, St. Charles and Ascension Parish sheriff’s offices were involved with the trial, in addition to the FBI and State Police Fusion Center, and the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association. The St. John Sheriff’s Office could not be involved in sequestration of the jury, transportation of the jury, security of the jury, security of the jury’s hotel, transportation of the defendant, or nighttime courthouse security.