KSP Tpr. Phillips laid to rest
Published 7:01 pm Sunday, October 4, 2026
1/21
Swipe or click to see more
Pallbearers usher out Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ casket at the end of Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
2/21
Swipe or click to see more
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. speaks at Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
3/21
Swipe or click to see more
Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession to his burial in Glasgow, Ky. passes the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Tim Broekema)
4/21
Swipe or click to see more
Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession to his burial in Glasgow, Ky. passes the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Tim Broekema)
5/21
Swipe or click to see more
Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession to his burial in Glasgow, Ky. passes the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Tim Broekema)
6/21
Swipe or click to see more
Kentucky State Police remove their campaign hats as they sit during Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
7/21
Swipe or click to see more
Ky. Governor Andy Beshear greets Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ oldest son Kason Phillips, 10, at the funeral held for Kason Phillips’ father in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
8/21
Swipe or click to see more
KSP Captian Jeremy Smith reads a letter written by Jordan Phillips to her recently passed husband at Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
9/21
Swipe or click to see more
Konnor Phillips, 1, wandered the empty seats with a family member before the start of his father Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral family held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
10/21
Swipe or click to see more
Kason Phillips, 10, straightens his jacket displaying a blue ribbon and button pin of his Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips at the funeral held for Kason Phillips’ father in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
11/21
Swipe or click to see more
Mary Riley and daughter Noraya Riley, 9, stand near as Smiths Grove Fire Department stands at attention on the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. for Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
12/21
Swipe or click to see more
Law enforcement vehicles and community members line the bridges over I-65 between Bowling Green and Glasgow to show support for Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession from his funeral at E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
13/21
Swipe or click to see more
Law enforcement vehicles and community members line the bridges over I-65 between Bowling Green and Glasgow to show support for Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession from his funeral at E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
14/21
Swipe or click to see more
Jackson and Monica Ausbrooks of Smiths Grove, Ky. hang an American flag over the bridge in Smiths Grove, Ky. to show support for Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession from his funeral at E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
15/21
Swipe or click to see more
Jordan Phillips sits with her son Knox Phillips’, 4, as her husband’s casket sits covered with the Kentucky state flag in the background at husband, father and Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
16/21
Swipe or click to see more
Pastor Dr. Gregg Farrell speaks at Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026. Farrell is a local law enforcement chaplain and said he was present when KSP went to tell the Phillips family of the tragedy.
(Gabi Broekema)
17/21
Swipe or click to see more
The Phillips family and Kentucky State Police mourn the loss of Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips at his funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026. The funeral was immediately followed by Phillips’ procession to Glasgow, Ky. where he was laid to rest in Glasgow Cemetery.
(Gabi Broekema)
18/21
Swipe or click to see more
The Phillips family and Kentucky State Police mourn the loss of Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips at his funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026. The funeral was immediately followed by Phillips’ procession to Glasgow, Ky. where he was laid to rest in Glasgow Cemetery.
(Gabi Broekema)
19/21
Swipe or click to see more
The Phillips family and Kentucky State Police mourn the loss of Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips at his funeral held in E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 4, 2026. The funeral was immediately followed by Phillips’ procession to Glasgow, Ky. where he was laid to rest in Glasgow Cemetery.
(Gabi Broekema)
20/21
Swipe or click to see more
Smiths Grove Fire Department Lieutenant Lindsay Kane and Assistant Chief Dough Hoots salute and pastor Wade Martin Hughes Sr. waves a white handkerchief on the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. as Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ hearse passes in his procession to his burial in Glasgow, Ky. on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
(Gabi Broekema)
21/21
Swipe or click to see more
Faith Assembly of God pastor Wade Martin Hughes Sr. of Smiths Grove, Ky. waves a white handkerchief on the bridge over I-65 in Smiths Grove, Ky. for Ky. State Trooper Hayden Phillips’ procession on Sunday, October 4, 2026. With four family members in law enforcement, he said he wanted to show support. “It’s all I can do,” Hughes said.
(Gabi Broekema)
Speakers at the funeral for Kentucky State Police Trooper Hayden Phillips paid tribute Sunday to his heroism and sacrifice while on duty and also lauded his life as a family man.
Thousands of people attended the funeral service for Phillips at E.A. Diddle Arena on Western Kentucky University’s campus, with officers from numerous law enforcement agencies from Kentucky and other states represented.
The Kentucky state flag draped Phillips’ casket, and eight KSP troopers served as pallbearers.
Phillips, 28, was shot and killed on Sept. 28 during a traffic stop on Interstate 65 in Warren County, the first Kentucky State Police trooper to die in the line of duty since 2015.
A three-year veteran of KSP, Phillips leaves behind a wife and three sons.
Following the funeral service, the processional to Glasgow Municipal Cemetery stretched for miles.
Email newsletter signup
KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. spoke of the family life that Phillips and his wife, Jordan Phillips, built for their three children at their home and farm in Glasgow, where the Phillips’ raised cattle and horses.
The day before Phillips died, he placed a flagpole near the entrance to their home, and an American flag and a Kentucky State Police flag have flown from there since, Burnett said.
Phillips’ last few days with his family also involved planting some fall chrysanthemums, baling hay and having a shed built on the property, according to Burnett.
“He didn’t know he was preparing his family to say goodbye, he was simply loving them, he was simply taking care of them, he was simply being Hayden,” Burnett said during his remarks. “Those ordinary moments have become precious memories, reminders of his love, his faith and his life he built with the people who meant the most to him.”
Burnett acknowledged that, among KSP troopers, the pain felt at the loss of Phillips “stretches to every single corner of this agency.”
“There is strength in recognizing that we’re human and losing one of our own hurts so deeply,” Burnett said. “We’ll continue to honor Hayden by standing together as an agency and continuing the work he dedicated his life to doing every single day.”
The service featured a number of musical selections, including an appearance by Kentucky native Billy Ray Cyrus, who performed “Some Gave All.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also eulogized Phillips, saying that the trooper’s career represented “strength, selflessness and a commitment to service”
Beshear urged those who knew Phillips to keep his legacy alive by sharing their memories of him.
“It is our sacred duty and we cannot let him down,” Beshear said. “Jordan has shared that her boys deserve to hear every memory, every funny story, they need to hear every part of who their dad is and they need to know the man their mom loved so much.
Addressing Phillips’ children, Beshear said that people who have spoken with him about the trooper this past week have brought up how proud he was of his family, and told Phillips’ sons “you’ve got a lot of friends around you.”
A letter from Jordan Phillips was read during the service by Capt. Jeremy Smith, commander of KSP Post 15.
“He understood what it meant to put on that uniform, to stand for something bigger than himself and to be there when people needed him…what he did at home, he was our protector, he was our teacher, he was our laughter, he was our home,” Jordan Phillips’ letter stated. “Although the state police watch he carried is now over, the legacy of that watch will never end because Hayden’s watch over his boys and I will continue. His lessons, his strength, his stories and his love will stay with them for the rest of their lives, and I will spend the rest of mine making sure they know exactly who their daddy was. Hayden, you were loved deeply, you were needed, you were admired, you were respected, you were our hero long before we ever had to call you one.”
Dr. Gregg Farrell, senior pastor at Crossland Community Church and a chaplain with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, exhorted those at the service to remember Phillips for more than the circumstances of his death, saying that the full life Phillips lived should inspire others.
“Hayden Phillips did not have his life taken from him, he gave his life for the citizens of Kentucky,” Farrell said.
