‘Make a difference’: Wife of fallen deputy US Marshal finds purpose after tragedy

CHARLOTTE — Tuesday marks six months since four members of law enforcement were killed and four more were hurt during a police ambush in Charlotte.

One of the officers killed that day was Deputy U.S. Marshal Tommy Weeks. The 13-year veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service was also a loving father and devoted husband.

9 FOCUS STORIES: Officers killed in Charlotte

Now, his wife Kelly is talking about grieving his loss and making sure his death serves a bigger purpose.

Life of the party

Kelly and Tommy Weeks spent most of their time at their dock on the lake.

“This is our peaceful place,” she told Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz.

REMEMBERING WEEKS:

It’s quiet now, but Kelly Weeks said when Tommy was around, it was a different story. She showed Goetz a video of him lip-synching to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

“If you were around him for any length of time and close to him and he didn’t make you laugh, I’d be shocked,” she said.

Kelly Weeks Deputy U.S. Marshal Tommy Weeks was one of the four officers killed on April 29, 2024. The 13-year veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service was also a loving father and devoted husband.

“You got this guy who looks like a cop, acts like a cop, but then busts out in a karaoke bar.”

He was always the life of the party, but he was also a husband, dad, and friend.

“He lived in the moment. He lived so he would make a sunset on the back deck,” Kelly Weeks said. “Like he would take a million pictures and post them on social media. And I’d be like, ‘We see this sunset every day.’ He’s like, ‘No, this is the best one.’ And then two weeks later, ‘No, no, this is the best one.’ And he would post it and he wanted to share it with people.”

She told Goetz that after his death, she caught herself doing the same thing.

“This morning, I woke up and the sun was on the trees and it was beautiful. And I took a picture of it and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I just did what Tommy does.”

It was these qualities that made Kelly Weeks said made her fall in love with Tommy.

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“From the first date, he never, never left my side,” she said.

“He was my protector. I mean, no one would have ever gotten through him to get to me, that would be for sure.”

April 29

Kelly Weeks said every day with her husband was a celebration. But six months ago, everything the Weeks family knew changed.

“April 29 is when our life changed dramatically,” Kelly Weeks said.

“The day’s still very much vivid in my brain.”

That day is now marked as one of the darkest in Charlotte’s history. But it didn’t start that way in the Weeks house.

“That morning, Tommy was going to training. So he’s like, ‘I’m just going to do some training. I should be done early. I can get the groceries,’” Kelly said.

That was the plan, at least.

“I get a call from my coworker, who lives in Charlotte, [who] said, ‘Kelly, there’s a shooting in Charlotte. [A] U.S. Marshal has been shot. Where’s Tommy?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s immortal. He’s not even down in Charlotte,’” she told Goetz. “And so I checked my Life360 and saw that his car was there.”

Tommy Weeks ended up assisting the Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force that day, serving an arrest warrant on a fugitive in Charlotte. He was killed when the suspect opened fire on officers, killing Weeks and Task Force Officer Sam Poloche, Task Force Officer William “Alden” Elliott, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Joshua Eyer.

“In those first moments, did you even think that you could make it to six months?” Goetz asked.

“No, I think we all — especially when with my stepdaughter, she’s like, ‘How — I’m never going to survive this,’” Kelly Weeks said. “And there’s moments where you’re thinking, “I’m not going to get out of this.”

‘We can make a difference’

Weeks said the days that followed the shooting were unimaginable, but so was the support that poured in across the country.

“The amount of people standing up and saying, ‘Thank you’ and Tommy’s processional pulling into Mooresville. People lined up in lawn chairs waiting for us to come, praying and crying and grieving with us,” she said.

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That support was evident among the hundreds of people who showed up for Tommy’s memorial. It was also evident in the plaques along her countertops that she showed to Goetz. She also pointed out a game ball gifted to her by the Carolina Panthers.

And the support for her was clear even during her conversation with Goetz. Two U.S. Marshals, who were also Tommy’s good friends, stood at Kelly’s side to make sure she was OK. They were protecting her like Tommy did and now, she vows to protect them.

Kelly Weeks with Channel 9's Hannah Goetz Two U.S. Marshals, who were also Tommy’s good friends, stood at Kelly’s side to make sure she was OK. They were protecting her like Tommy did and now, she vows to protect them.

“They have a very, very stressful job. All law enforcement — all front line, to be fair, have a very stressful job. And so we tend to take for granted that, in my opinion, the strongest of strong take these jobs,” she said. “You can’t be weak and do these jobs. And you have to want to serve others. So their mentality is to take care of everybody else — and Tommy was the same way — and take care of themselves last. So, you know, nobody’s going to look out for them, and that’s our job.”

Kelly has vowed to use her pain, her voice, and her vulnerability to advocate for law enforcement officers. She’s championing their support and mental health, and she’s supporting the families of the fallen.

″I think strength, in my opinion, is being vulnerable enough to say that it’s hard. Because it is. It’s super hard,” she said. “But if we can, make a difference out of it.”

At her husband’s funeral, Weeks charged attendees with a task.

“What do I need? I need this country to come together to support our law enforcement officers so they can continue to fight for justice,” she said that day.

Her mission remains the same six months later.

“When I get to April 29, [2025], I want to look back and know that we’ve impacted other people’s lives in a positive way, and hopefully change some people’s opinions of law enforcement,” she said. “Because they are humans. Very much humans.”

Kelly Weeks said though that day in April was unimaginably tragic, she’s focused on what lies ahead.

“It would be so easy to be angry, it would be so easy to be bitter,” she said. “Somebody killed him. ... But I refuse. I feel like if I do that, then that person had two victims that day. He would have killed Tommy and he would have killed my spirit and I won’t allow that.”

If you would like to support Kelly Weeks in her mission to help first responders and families of fallen officers, there is a Celebration of Heroes Concert on Nov. 23. Click here to buy a ticket.

(WATCH BELOW: Funeral honors fallen deputy US Marshal Thomas Weeks)