2 years after Wake County deputy’s death, his K-9 partner helps loved ones heal

When Wake County Deputy Ned Byrd was fatally shot two years ago, fellow K-9 officer Master Deputy A. Staton knew he had to take care of Byrd’s beloved dog partner, Sasha.

For Staton, who had worked with Byrd for four years, it wasn’t so much a choice as a reflex. When called out to the rural area where Byrd’s body lay, Staton couldn’t bear to see his fallen partner like that, he said. Instead, he asked a colleague to bring Sasha to him.

The then-3-year-old black Labrador retriever had been there for everything. Deputies found her unharmed in the back of Byrd’s SUV, according to court documents.

Although Sasha hadn’t been physically injured, the impact of the shooting that night was immediately apparent, Staton told The News & Observer.

“She kept spinning around in my kennel,” he recalled. “She was sitting down, panting.”

As Staton sat parked outside the medical examiner’s office where he’d escorted Byrd’s body, it took 30 minutes for Sasha to finally fall asleep, he said.

“Somebody was coming to relieve me,” Staton said. “I told them they could wait a little bit longer, because I knew when I put the car in drive, she was going to wake up, and I wanted her to get a little bit of rest. So I sat there a little bit longer.”

And as Sasha slept, Staton made the call.

“I called my wife and told her,” he said. “I asked her first and said, ‘Hey, I really want to take Sasha. I just don’t want somebody getting her that doesn’t know how important she was to Byrd.’”

Hours after losing one home, Sasha gained another.

‘She was his whole world’

Staton, a father of two and native of Tennessee, has worked for the Wake County Sheriff’s Office since 2011. The N&O is using his first initial to protect the safety of him and his family.

He met Byrd about four years ago when Byrd joined the K9 unit and later became Byrd’s partner.

A dog lover, Staton has three other dogs, including two K9s who work for the Sheriff’s Office – a 12-year-old bloodhound and an 8-year-old German shepherd — as well as a 14-year-old pitbull-boxer mix he rescued from a shelter.

When Byrd got Sasha, Staton watched as the pair developed a strong bond. The Lab was a “jack of all trades” trained to perform a variety of duties, including searches for missing people and narcotics detection, Staton said.

“They were inseparable. Byrd thought Sasha could walk on water,” Staton said. “She was the perfect dog in his eyes, for sure. She was his whole world.”

Byrd, a 48-year-old Air Force veteran and CrossFit fan, would take Sasha kayaking or paddle boarding when he could. Staton said she still loves the water — except when it’s bath time.

“She’s a strong dog for sure, and very, very athletic,” he said.

Dr. Melinda Perry is Sasha’s veterinarian at Carolina Ranch Animal Hospital & Resort in Johnston County, where all Wake County Sheriff’s Office K-9s are treated. Perry told The N&O she met Byrd and Sasha two weeks before Byrd’s death and immediately noticed the pair’s strong bond.

“I had the chance to observe the relationship that they had just in a few minutes, and it was mind-boggling, because you could see the love that they had for each other,” Perry said. “He committed everything to her and she committed everything to him.”

Days after Byrd’s death, brothers Arturo Marin-Sotelo, 31, and Alder Marin-Sotelo, 27, were arrested in Burke County and charged with murder in his shooting. Their case is pending trial as officials await the younger brother’s extradition from Mexico, where he fled after escaping from jail in Virginia in April 2023.

Healing together

After the death of the person they both loved, Staton and Sasha grieved alongside each other.

They led Byrd’s funeral procession . Sasha poured love into Staton’s family, licking at his wife and children’s faces and becoming so close to Staton’s pitbull mix, Renegade, he’d let her eat from his bowl.

“She fit right in immediately,” Staton said.

Over time, it became clear that Sasha would not be able to return to her K-9 duties.

She jumped at loud noises, ran and hid at the sound of the oven timer and trembled when Staton tried to put her in the kennel of his patrol car.

Perry ultimately diagnosed the Lab with post-traumatic stress disorder, which often presents in dogs similarly to how it presents in humans.

“They believed she had at least some part of that and was somewhat traumatized by the events [of Byrd’s death],” Staton said. “So after that, she’s just been retired and living her best life at home, getting pampered.”

According to Perry, Sasha was “a completely different dog” when Staton brought her in for a check-up after Byrd’s death.

“She was shaking,” Perry recalled. “She would not make eye contact. She would not come to me ... She was broken.”

Staton was committed to Sasha’s healing from the start. Perry recounted how the deputy brought home Byrd’s clothing so Sasha could take comfort in his scent. She advised him to be patient with the dog, just as he would be with a person suffering from PTSD.

And as Sasha began to heal with Staton’s family, he began to heal with her.

“Just seeing her and being able to love her, because I know how much he loved her, has really helped,” he said. “It doesn’t bring him back, obviously, but it does feel like I can do something to honor him.”

Staton and his wife nicknamed the Lab “Sasha Byrd” in honor of their late friend — just one of the many ways they try to keep Byrd’s memory alive, Staton explained.

“We always want to remember him,” he said. “We don’t want it ever becoming something where when we see her, we don’t think about him.”

Some days, that looks like bringing Sasha to Lola’s Beach Bar, the Five Points restaurant Byrd often visited. Other times, it looks like taking Sasha to cuddle with Byrd’s friends and family when they’re in town.

This Saturday, Sasha will visit the 5K Fallen Law Enforcement Honor Run to cheer on Byrd’s friends and family, including Staton, as they run in memory of him and other law enforcement officers.

And just as Sasha captured her first handler’s heart, she has nosed her way into the hearts of Staton and his family.

“I just couldn’t imagine not having her,” Staton said. “Obviously, if Byrd came back, I would give her to him in a heartbeat and have him back. But she’s just become part of the family.”

The 5K Fallen Law Enforcement Honor Run will be held at the Wake County Sheriff’s Office Training Center at 2300 Law Enforcement Drive in Raleigh at 9 a.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10 for children under 13 and $30 for all others. Day-of registration will be $40.