Illinois State Police honored and helped lay to rest one of their own in Orland Park Friday morning.
Hundreds attended the private funeral service of State Trooper Clay Carns at Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park as well as the previous night’s visitation. A procession followed from the church to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip for Carns’ internment.
“Today, and every day going forward, we honor Illinois State Police Trooper Clay Carns for his sacrifice, and the sacrifice made by his family,” State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly said in a news release Friday.
Kelly spoke at Carns’ funeral along with Lt. Col. Jason Bradley, State Trooper Patrick Manno and siblings Chad Carns and Erica Raciak.
Following the funeral, three rows of at least 20 law enforcement members honored Carns in starting the procession in the Parkview Christian Church parking lot. Bagpipers played “Amazing Grace” and “Going Home,” and Chicago Police Department helicopters flew over the church.
Mourners stood quiet and alert in the frigid cold until Carns’ casket was placed inside of a black Cadillac SUV. Carns, 35, was married to Meghan Carns and father to two children, ages 2 and 3.
Carns was hit and killed by a vehicle while on duty, cleaning up debris on Interstate 55 north of Blodgett Road near Channahon on the night of Dec. 23, police said.
After activating his emergency lights, Carns pulled over to the right shoulder and exited his vehicle. He was standing in the lane with the debris when the driver, 69-year-old John Fleet of Wilmington, allegedly struck him with his Chevrolet Silverado, police said.
Fleet was charged with a Class 4 Felony under the Move Over Law, or Scott’s Law, ISP said, as well as given multiple citations, police said. Scott’s Law, named after Lieutenant Scott Gillen of the Chicago Fire Department, was enacted in 2001 after Gillen was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while assisting at a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
State police said that in all of 2024 before Carns’ death, their department was affected by 26 crashes resulting in Scott’s Law charges. Twelve troopers were injured and one other trooper died.
Kelly said that in Carns’ absence, the Illinois State Police will “preserve and uphold that which he stood for — integrity, service and pride.”
“While ISP is hurting as we lay to rest the second trooper killed on Illinois highways in just three months, we will not falter,” he said. ”Trooper Carns will remain in our hearts and in our sacred work of protecting public safety and pursuing justice.”
Carns’ family released a statement through the Illinois State Police last week saying Carns was a “treasured husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend” who became a hero when he was killed.
“Our world has been shattered, and we will never be the same,” the statement said. “But we take comfort in knowing that he lived his life with such purpose, he loved his family and friends fiercely, and he took great pride in his work.”
The family said people who want to help them can donate to the family via GoFundMe.com. As of Friday afternoon, they had raised almost $280,000.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com