Widow Of Killed Animal Control Officer Looking Toward Future

ELK GROVE (CBS13) – The widow of Roy Marcum opened up to CBS13 about the love of her life, the animal control officer gunned down in cold blood while simply doing his job.

"He was good at what he did and he loved his family," Tina Marcum said of her late husband.

The pain Tina is feeling is deeper as the holidays approach. Three weeks ago, her life changed in an instant.

As she talks about that day, she says she's focused on the future.

"He was a good, good man," Tina said.

More than 10 years ago, Roy would walk into Tina's life and change everything.

He was an uplifting man with an obnoxious laugh, she says.

They would get married, barefoot on a Kauai beach.

"He made sure I had the princess dress," Tina said.

For the next nine years, life was good.

"He was all around a happy person, and he just didn't really let things get to him," she said.

He worked his job as an animal control officer with Sacramento County, and his dog Petunia by his side.

"It's a field where sometimes you're not dealing with the best of people," Tina said. "(I) always told him to be careful, always to be careful."

Tina knew it was a dangerous job, but she never thought it would be deadly.

"The call he was on is so routine, so routine, I don't think anybody would've thought that would happen," she said.

On his last call, Roy would be murdered. The alleged killer, a Galt man, was being evicted from his home. He saw Roy's uniform and shot through his door.

Roy's only task that day was to help the man with his dogs.

Tina received the call while at work.

"I knew, you just know," she said. "We went to the school, and we told the kids. That was probably the hardest part, telling them and trying to hold it together. Trying to be strong for them was really difficult."

The day Tina buried her husband, hundreds showed up from all over. That's when Tina says she realized she wasn't alone.

"I do believe good things can come out of bad things. People make it happen and they have for us," she said.

Some days she gets angry, but Roy taught her one thing: keep looking forward.

"I'm not going to give him any more of my power. I'm just not going to do it. Roy would want me to go on," Tina said.

Recently, the county announced it will be giving all its animal control officers bullet proof vests, and possibly tasers.

It's what Roy had been asking for before he died. Now Tina hopes the officers get more safety training as well.