Husband of slain runner speaks - KCTV5

It is a case that broke hearts in our community and around the world. When Meg Menzies was hit and killed while running on an Ashland road in January, support poured in for her husband, a local police officer, and their three children, who will now grow up without a mother.

Friday is exactly a week before a birthday Meg Menzies will never get to celebrate. As difficult as it was for him, her husband, Sgt. Scott Menzies, took NBC12 back to the scene of the crash where she lost her life and he lost the love of his life. 

"That cross is exactly where she was laying," he pointed out.

A single pair of running sneakers hangs from a memorial marking the spot where Meg Menzies' life ended and Scott Menzies' life changed forever.

"It's hard, but I can't get away from it," Scott responded when asked how difficult it is to go to that site. "I think about it all the time."

A short sprint away, a tribute on East Patrick Henry Road has taken on a life of its own.

"Probably the best part of me died on January 13^th," Scott lamented. "It's tough to pick up the pieces."

Scott is picking up the pieces from a tragedy he never imagined he'd experience. Back in January, the couple was running together as they often did, when court records show Dr. Michael Carlson, who was legally drunk, ran his car into Meg and killed her. Scott comforted her as she lay dying. 

"I see what happened that day all the time," he recalled. "I can't get it out of my head. She died doing what she loved to do and she ran home to the Lord. I don't know. We never talked about what was the last thing you'd rather do before you died. I have to believe, we never talked about it, but I have to believe she loved running so much, I gotta believe that she'd say that."

And Scott would know.

"It was sort of love at first sight if you will," he explained.

Theirs was a 15 year love story. They went to high school together, but didn't date until college.

"Meg was just a beam of light," Scott remembered.

The two got married in 2002 and had three children. He's now left to raise on his own a five-year-old girl and 7- and 9-year old boys.

"I don't know how you're supposed to do life without a mother," he wondered. "I can't answer the children's questions. I can't fix any of this, so it's really hard. They ask a lot of questions I don't have the answers to."

"They fall down, we put a band-aid on it," Scott said. "We tell them to get back out there. It's alright and we make it better. We talk through problems but this is not like that. I can't fix this and that is the most difficult thing about this."

That hurt won't lessen any time soon. Michael Carlson's trial date will be set next week. As the court case moves forward, the family will be forced to relive the events of that morning. The support that's come in from across the world the past few months will help the family through what could be a lengthy ordeal.

"There's no way that we would be where we are now," Scott believes. "There' s no way, there are days when I struggle to get out of bed. There's no way I could get out of bed without the family and the support we've had."

With that support, they're taking everything one day at a time now.

"She was my best friend for half my life, so it's difficult," Scott added. "We're, we're lost."

They're lost and still wishing for the impossible.

"I still to this day would've done anything in the world to trade places with her," Scott said.

Scott did not want to risk jeopardizing the case before it goes to trial, so he did not want to get into the specifics of what happened and the upcoming legal process.

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