It’s impossible to quantify how many lives the prolific DUI enforcement officer might have saved by taking dangerous motorists off valley roads. But following Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Micah May’s death less than a week ago, the organs he donated had so far proved life-changing for four recipients, his widow, Joanna, said Tuesday evening during a candlelight vigil at Police Memorial Park in northwest Las Vegas.
Joanna May, standing strong among bouts of tears, wanted to reinforce to vigil attendees that her husband was a hero, although he was so humble that he would have hated being referred to as one, she said.
A couple hundred people — including law enforcement, first responders and community members — showed up to the short ceremony held in triple-digit temperatures. They hugged, cried, reflected, provided comfort to May’s loved ones, and continued to scribble messages on the fallen trooper’s patrol cruiser that’s turned into a traveling memorial since May was gravely injured July 27 by a carjacking suspect being pursued by his colleagues.
The suspect, who investigators said intentionally hit May as the trooper was laying stop sticks to deflate the stolen car's tires, was gunned down by officers when he tried to grab May’s gun, officials said.
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May died two days later. He was 46.
Joanna May described her husband as an "amazing father" and family man. He would read to his young children — a young boy and a baby girl — before bed every night and would chirp the siren and flash the lights of his cruiser every time he left for work.
“It’s been hard, but seeing all of you here today,” she said, pausing to cry, “it helps to know that I’m not alone.”
May loved being a state trooper, she said. “He found great joy in taking bad people off the road and helping others in need.”
She said he disliked being called a hero and the recognition that came from it. “But I'm sorry, you left me too soon,” she said, breaking down.
Trooper Travis Smaka was a rookie officer with the agency nearly seven years ago, working graveyard shifts with May.
A member of the patrol’s honor guard, Smaka has attended many funerals for officers but had never lost a friend, someone who’s home he’d visited. “I felt sick to my stomach,” he said, crying, noting that as a spokesman for the agency, it’s been heart-wrenching giving interviews about his friend, but it’s crucial that the community knows what it lost.
Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Micah May
May was so unassuming that few people, excluding Smaka, knew that he won the Medal of Valor, the agency’s highest honor. “He never wore the medal, he never talked about it,” Smaka said. “That’s who he was.”
Patrol Lt. Anthony Munoz was May’s supervisor while he worked the graveyard shift. “Micah saved so many lives as a graveyard guardian,” he said.
“He took extreme pride in it, but you would never know it by working with him,” he said, he was “the most humble individual you’ll ever work with.”
Munoz broke down when he noted that he just lost his best friend, Sgt. Ben Jenkins in 2020. The officer was gunned down by a motorist he was trying to assist on the side of the road in White Pine County.
Jenkins was one of May’s academy mates when they joined the department in 2008.
Addressing Joanna May, Munoz said that he had messaged Jenkins’ widow when May died.
“She told me she talked to Ben, and Ben welcomed him with open arms,” he said. “He’s in amazing hands, Joanna, he’s watching over us with Ben. They’re OK; he’s at peace.”
Mindy Lloyd, widow of Metro Police Lt. Erik Lloyd, who lost a battle with COVID-19, said that both officers died one year apart, on the exact day.
The lieutenant was the president of the Injured Officers Fund, which organized May’s vigil and has helped thousands of injured officers with funds since the 1980s. Mindy continues to be involved with the organization, and shed tears when she told Joanna May that she will never be alone.
Current president of the organization, Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Chelsea Stuenkel told the crowd that she’d known May since she was a rookie trooper in the graveyard shift about a decade ago. “Micah befriended me and showed me the ropes of the yard.”
She described the fallen officer as “the most loyal guy” she’s ever met, telling Joanna May that the surviving officers will carry his legacy.
“You are stuck with this blue family forever, and you will never be alone,” Stuenkel said.
After the remarks, Joanna May and her two children were escorted to the front of the stage, where she lit a candle with a larger candle placed in the center. The flame lit a candle, and that candle lit another.
Following a moment of silence, the crowd began to disperse.
May’s services, which are open to the public, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Central Church, 1001 New Beginnings Drive, in Henderson.