JACKSON COUNTY, Ga. — Jackson County Deputy Lena Marshall died Monday afternoon, after being shot on the job Friday night. She was a mother, a friend, and a brave law enforcement officer.
Upon her passing, 11Alive reached out to those who knew her and immediately received dozens of responses back. The messages, which highlighted how loved she was, all had one thing in common: they all talked about how much she loved her three children.
She was more widely known as "Nicole" to those who knew her.
11Alive's Paola Suro first spoke to Randy and Wanda Johnson. Randy was the Lawrenceville Police Chief for more than three decades, and says he helped hire Nicole before she went to the police academy and moved up in the ranks.
"I needed a administrative assistant, so I hired Nicole and she worked for me. Immediately, she realized that she wanted to be a police officer so she started doing ride alongs," he said.
The couple says Nicole's mother was also in law enforcement, so it ran in her blood.
"She didn't like sitting behind the desk," recalled Wanda. "She's felt the need to serve and protect out on the streets and try to make a difference so this is just heartbreaking. It's just tragic for know that she lost her life doing what she loved."
Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum posted on social media Monday evening that Deputy Lena Marshall died around 3:50 p.m. Monday.
The sheriff said on Friday night around 9:20 p.m., deputies responded to a domestic call on Highway 124 in Hoschton. Marshall and another deputy went to the scene.
"As contact was made at the front door, the suspect fired at the deputies, striking Deputy Marshall," Mangum said in a social media post. "The second deputy returned fire, fatally wounding the suspect."
Marshall was taken to the hospital but later died.
"She left her family to go out and protect others," said Wanda. "It's just devastating. It's senseless that this happens she wanted to go after her dreams and that she wanted to provide for her family.”
Her law enforcement dreams took her from community to community. The Johnson's say that after the Lawrenceville Police Department, she went to the police academy and graduated. She later worked for the Winder Police Department and the Barrow County Sheriff's Office.
At one point, she moved to Texas and returned to serve the Georgia community. Nicole also worked with a K-9 unit at one point, uniting her love for serving and dogs.
Her love for dogs - specifically German Shepherds - was evident when talking to her other friend, Rebecca Schrader.
"Her whole thing about being a police officer was seriously just to protect people because they needed it," she said. "She also loved her cowboy boots. She loved her big wheels and trucks. She was awesome. I must tell you that her life really it was her friends and was mainly her kids."
Schrader says she used to get coffee with Nicole and time would simply pass by. They were supposed to get coffee this upcoming week.
"I've never seen a woman take her pain, suffering from her past, and all the bad stuff, and weave them together. Like a gorgeous pair of wings," she said. "That's Lena. She didn't let all this bad stuff pull her down. She just took it and she learned from it."
Nicole was a single mother of three. Everyone who knew her well also knew she lost a son, Austin, years ago, on the same day of her passing.
"She had lost a son and the anniversary of his death is today as well. She died on the same day that her son died. November 8th," said Wanda, while speaking to Reporter Paola Suro on the phone. "Randy and I are on the way to the cemetery now to light a candle on his grave. I know Austin greeted her with open arms. He was probably running for the first time ever... running to his mom."
Despite everything she had been through, you'll see Deputy Marshall sporting a smile in all her photos. Her former Lawrenceville Police Department colleague, Brent Moss, says he never saw her in a bad mood.
"She's just one of those people that she was the center of attention a lot of the time because everybody wanted to gravitate towards her because she was just that type of person," he said.
He says the law enforcement community is very tight-knit, and he found out early on of her passing.
"That hit us like a ton of bricks," he said. "You're never going to replace her. The amount that she cared for her job... you're just never gonna be able to find that again.”
Now, he wants her family to know that Nicole has thousands of other brothers and sisters, and that her blue family is there if they need anything.
“I've been to more police officer funerals than I care to ever, ever want to see. And then here we are, we're about to go to another one. And it's just, it's unfortunate, and it should have never happened. If they ever need anything, they can reach out to any one of us that know her and we'll be there no matter what.”
Sheriff Mangum said arrangements will be released once they have been made.
A benefit fund has been set up at the Northeast Georgia Bank, 1775 Old Pendergrass Road, Jefferson, Georgia. Donations can be made at any Northeast Georgia Bank, Mangum said.