Bridge named in honor of a Wake sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty
The bridge that carries Auburn Knightdale Road over the Neuse River southeast of Raleigh will be named for the Wake County sheriff’s deputy who was shot and killed nearby in the summer of 2022.
The state Board of Transportation approved the Deputy Ned P. Byrd Bridge on Thursday. Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe and county commissioners requested the designation last summer as a lasting tribute to Byrd, who worked 13 years with the sheriff’s department starting as a detention officer.
Byrd was a member of the department’s K-9 unit when he was found shot to death outside his SUV near the intersection of Auburn Knightdale and Battle Bridge roads on Aug. 11, 2022. He was 48. His canine, Sasha, was unharmed inside.
Sgt. Andrew Staton, who worked closely with Byrd in the K-9 unit, adopted Sasha. Staton told Board of Transportation members Thursday that Byrd fell hard for his canine partner from the start.
“Byrd was infatuated with her. Thought she was the best thing in the world. Treated her like a baby,” he said. “We had to regularly tell him, and remind him on the unit, that she was a working dog and not a pet or a child.”
Staton said members of the K-9 unit think of Byrd every day and would “give anything to have five more minutes to speak with him” about one of his passions: jiu-jitsu, Joe Rogan mountain biking or Sasha.
“He left an impact,” he said. “Hopefully this bridge can be a reminder to anyone to look up his story and see how special he truly was.”
Two brothers, Arturo and Alder Marin-Sotelo, were charged with killing Byrd. The case has not yet come to trial. Alder Marin-Sotelo fled to Mexico and has been fighting extradition back to North Carolina. Prosecutors have not disclosed a possible motive for the killing.
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM.
