Toddler gifted teddy bears sewn from slain father's police uniforms

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A Missouri toddler who lost his police officer father to a fatal shooting in October has received a special gift: teddy bears made from his father’s uniforms.

St. Louis County police Officer Blake Snyder, 33, was gunned down in the early morning hours of Oct. 6 as he and his partner responded to a call of a disturbance, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The suspect in the shooting, 18-year-old Trenton Forster, is accused of shooting Snyder in the face when the officer asked to see his hands.

Snyder’s widow, Elizabeth Snyder, has posted frequently on her Facebook page about the loss she and the couple’s young son, Malachi Snyder, have faced since his death. On Tuesday, she posted a photo of the smiling 2-year-old clutching a teddy bear in each arm.

“These beautiful bears were made for us from Blake’s uniforms,” Snyder wrote.

The bears, given to "Chi" by a family friend, have the words "love you always" and "always with you" sewn into their feet, according to CNN.

Snyder told KTVI in St. Louis that she cannot look at her son without being reminded of her husband, and about the fact that he is never coming home.

"He's been asking for his daddy a lot, which is hard," Snyder said, crying. "Because I don't know how to respond to him yet."

She said she plans to make sure that their son grows up knowing that his father, a loving husband and devoted dad, was a hero who, if given the chance, would have still responded to the call for help that ultimately led to his death.

“He was a good man and a good police officer. The best,” she said. “And he sacrificed his life for others.

"He made the ultimate sacrifice, and I couldn't be more proud of him," Snyder said.

Cox Media Group