Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Military and law enforcement officers salute Sunday as the casket of Rocky Mount Police Officer Jason Maxey passes by during services held at the Franklin County High School auditorium in Rocky Mount.

Rocky Mount firefighters Justin Woodrow (from left), Ronnie Mitchell, John Hodges and Jeff McCarty salute as the hearse leaves Franklin County High School after Sunday's funeral.

Jason Maxey's status as a Rocky Mount Police officer and an Army Reservist drew a mix of uniformed personnel to his funeral Sunday in Rocky Mount.

Rocky Mount firefighter John Hodges wears a badge with a black band around it in honor of Jason Maxey during services Sunday at Franklin County High School. Maxey was a Rocky Mount Police officer.

ROCKY MOUNT -- Mourners wrestled with the question, "Why?" as they prepared to lay a slain police officer to rest Sunday afternoon.

The pictures of Jason William Maxey on display outside the Franklin County High School auditorium showed a burly young man always sporting an easy smile, whether posing in military uniform, holding a birthday balloon, playfully flexing a massive biceps for the camera or embracing and kissing his fiancee.

Maxey, a six-year veteran of the Rocky Mount Police Department, died early Oct. 11 in a head-on collision on southbound U.S. 220 in Roanoke. He was 34. An Ohio man is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Maxey's death.

The funeral service took place in the school auditorium. Before it began, two white-gloved Rocky Mount police officers stood on either side of Maxey's flag-draped coffin with heads bowed and hands clasped. Flower arrangements filled the front of the stage.

With emotion in his voice, Rocky Mount Police Chief Erik Mollin recalled Maxey as an eager, aggressive officer who had a talent for thinking outside the box.

"He's a great loss."

Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt called Maxey "a well-known face within the county, the Sheriff's Office and especially the town."

Maxey served in both the U.S. Navy and the Army National Guard. In February, he completed an 18-month mission in Kosovo, during which he met his fiancee, Claudia Muscova.

More than 200 mourners had already taken their seats before Franklin County deputies, Roanoke police officers, Virginia State Troopers and conservation officers, members of the Rocky Mount police department and others began to file in with their hats in their hands.

One of Maxey's cousins, 13-year-old Anita Bess, read a poem in which she described him as "sweet," "brave" and "very strong."

The Rev. Brian Vaughan, who is also a Franklin County deputy, remembered spending time with Maxey when both worked late-night shifts. "I had the honor of working on the streets with Jason," he said.

He described Maxey as a tenacious policeman who wouldn't let go of an objective until he finished it. "He was our local pit bull."

He said Maxey always insisted on addressing him as "sir," even though "I was just one of the guys.

"We sat at two, three o'clock in the morning and shared many cups of coffee together."

Vaughan shared some of his own anger and sorrow at his friend's death, demanding, "Why did it have to be Jason?"

When he heard, "I felt like somebody had set a 500 pound rock in my lap," he said. "Not only had I lost a brother officer, I had lost a friend," he said. "I can't just put that aside."

But he told Maxey's family, "Beginning now, today, I'm going to leave my rock here. I invite you to do the same thing. You cannot carry this burden alone."

He told the congregation that Maxey's parents, Clarence and Charlotte Maxey, have said to him that the past can't be changed and due process should be allowed to run its course.

"We must remember that there is another side to this story, another vehicle involved in this crash and a young man that we need to pray for," Vaughan said.

A preliminary hearing for 25-year-old Brooks Ryan Leisure is scheduled for Nov. 13 in Roanoke General District Court.

Roanoke police say Leisure was driving the wrong way on the divided highway between Elm Avenue and Franklin Road when his Isuzu Rodeo struck Maxey's southbound Chevrolet Malibu.

Police wrote in a search warrant that Leisure appeared to be intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.

Maxey, who was off duty, died in the crash.

Maxey once told his mother that she shouldn't worry about him because his Christian faith was his shield, Vaughan said.

"Jason made the ultimate sacrifice instead of someone else having to give their life."

Outside the school, pallbearers carried Maxey's coffin between two rows of military personnel, police officers and fire-EMS workers, all with their hands raised to their brows in salute.

His body was taken to his family's cemetery in Bedford, where he was buried with full military honors.