A little over a year ago, Hillsborough County Deputy John Kotfila was killed by a wrong-way driver on the Selmon Expressway. Today, his memory will live on with the grand opening and dedication of the Deputy Kotifla Memorial Dog Park in Tampa.

  • Tampa dog park named in honor of deputy killed in line of duty
  • Deputy John Kotfila killed in 2016 by a wrong-way driver
  • New park named 'Deputy Kotifla Memorial Dog Park'
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Just over a year after his life was taken, the family said their wounds have yet to heal but said the community support has been a big help.

"It's just meant so much it's really meant so much just all the different things that have been done,” John Kotfila Sr. said.

The dog park was built to honor Kotfila’s strong bond he had with his German Shepard, Dexter.

Kotfila's family said the two did everything together. Dexter now lives with the family in Massachusetts where he serves as a daily reminder to Deputy Kotfila's mother. 

"I had sent him a text on the day we were coming down to Florida. I knew he wasn't going to get it, but I told him I'm coming, I'm coming John Robert, and I'll get Dexter, take care of him, and love him as if he were my own son," Terry Kotfila said. 

The park is right under the expressway, the same road where Deputy Kotfila was killed in the line of duty last year.

Officials said Kotfila drove his cruiser into the path of a wrong-way driver to protect another driver from being hit.

Deputy Kotfila and the wrong-way driver both died in the crash and reports said the driver had been drinking.

Family, friends, and fellow law enforcement remember Deputy Kotfila as a loving and caring guy who always put others before himself.

You can take all the superlatives you want, he was just a great person," John Kotfila Sr. said. 

A ceremony was held Saturday to dedicate the park and celebrate the life of Deputy Kotfila. The family was surrounded by the love of fellow Hillsborough County law enforcement that Deputy Kotfila's sister, Katelyn, will soon be part of. 

"It was his dream to become a police officer so it's my dream now to keep his dream alive and do it in his honor," Katelyn Kotfila said.

The Deputy John R. Kotfila Memorial Dog Park was built by the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority. The City of Tampa will now maintain it.

Tyler Ellis and Melissa Wroble sent us a picture of their dog, Luna, at the grand opening for the Deputy John Kotfila Memorial Dog Park today.