‘An avid animal lover’ Family honors Deputy Tucker Blakley’s 30th birthday by raising money for shelter

UNION COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — It has been nine months since Knox County Sheriff’s Deputy Tucker Blakely was shot while responding to a domestic call in west Knox County. He was taken to the UT Medical Center on October 1, 2023, where he later died.

“When Tucker passed, I’ve never personally seen a community rally behind a family so much like they did ours,” Ty Blakely, Tucker’s brother said.

The support for Blakely’s family and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office was seen throughout the days following the funeral service across the volunteer state.

“People we didn’t even know about until his passing, the stories {that were} coming out,” Blakely said. “The people that would stop us in public or talk to us in the funeral.”

In July 2024, Deputy Blakely would have turned 30 years old. In honor of the milestone, the Blakely family came up with an idea to not only celebrate his birthday but help the community out as well.

“We kept talking about wanting to do something for the community to give back,” Blakely said. “It was like a light switch that went off the humane society. Tucker, like I said, was an avid animal lover and we thought that this would be a great way to give back. We know that Tucker would be extremely happy giving to animals in his name.”

His love for animals was seen in his line of work as Deputy Blakely was set to be a K-9 handler with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office before his death.

“We’re asking everybody if they can to make a donation to the Union County Humane Society, ” Blakely said. “If they can’t get to the Union County Humane Society, any shelter, any humane society, drop off a monetary donation and say this is for Deputy Tucker Blakely’s birthday.”

Deputy Blakely leaves behind a wife and a son.

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