RICHMOND—Gov. Bob McDonnell and leaders of Virginia’s law enforcement community will pay tribute this evening to a Southampton County sheriff’s deputy who died in a car accident last year and two other lawmen who were killed in the line of duty in Virginia in 2009. The late Christopher Ray, who died on Aug. 29 while responding to a disturbance call, will be remembered at the annual Virginia Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Service, scheduled for 6 p.m. today on the South Portico of the State Capitol in Richmond.

The other officers to be memorialized are Cpl. Christopher Kent Paschal of the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office and Investigator Chadwick Alan Carr of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. Paschal died following a traffic crash on Jan. 2, 2009, while attempting to render aid to a vehicle that had crashed during an ice storm on Interstate 81. Carr was killed in a traffic accident on June 4, when his vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer and caught fire.

McDonnell and Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Marla Graff Decker will recognize the fallen officers and their families as part of the ceremony.

“These were three exemplary young men who gave of themselves to their families, their friends, their colleagues in law enforcement, their communities and our Commonwealth,” McDonnell said. “We honor each of these individuals for their character and achievements, and we extend our appreciation to the families of these heroes for their strength and perseverance.”