Carrying his badge: Daughter of fallen sergeant continues his legacy as a deputy

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - Six years after losing her father, a South Carolina deputy says she has found him again — as she wears the same badge he wore before he was killed in the line of duty.

Sgt. Conley Jumper with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office was killed in the line of duty in October 2020 during a traffic stop on Interstate 85. He left behind a wife and a daughter who once planned to become a lawyer.

Now, his daughter wears her father’s badge.

A father who kept his two worlds separate

In her first interview since joining the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office in her father’s honor, Deputy Cat Jumper said she does not remember growing up around danger. She remembers a man in uniform arriving to catch the end of her volleyball games.

“I loved seeing him — I’d be playing volleyball, and you see this big guy coming in in the same uniform. You’re like, ‘Oh, that’s my dad right there.’ You know, it’s just cool,” Cat Jumper said.

For 28 years, Sgt. Conley Jumper worked Greenville County’s streets, most recently as a K-9 handler and in the department’s school enforcement division. At home, Cat Jumper said, he kept that world separate from his family.

“He kind of shielded me from kind of realization of what law enforcement is and kind of the dangers that occur... even through high school, I did not know. Even through a little bit of college, I did not know. He did a good job at kind of shielding me from that evil,” she said.

A different path before her father’s death

Cat Jumper was a pre-law student at Wofford College, aiming for law school and a career in criminal law.

“At the time before his death, I had different aspirations, different kind of goals. Law enforcement wasn’t really an interest at that time,” she said.

That changed on Oct. 20, 2020, when her father was killed during a traffic stop on Interstate 85.

“I remember it very vividly... it’s gonna be one of those memories that kind of stick in your head, and it’s gonna stay. I remember everybody there, where I was, what I was doing. It’s just an awful feeling,” Cat Jumper said.

Finding a new direction

Cat Jumper said her shift away from law school did not happen overnight. It grew out of what she saw in the months after her father’s death — and how the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office supported her family.

“I saw the camaraderie, everything the sheriff’s office did for us, did for my mom and I, my family... I start being around the sheriff’s office more as a 19, 20-year-old kid, and it’s like this is comfortable. This is home. Being around these people make me happy, make me feel secure and safe,” she said.

Letters arrived after Conley Jumper’s death from people her father had touched while working off-duty side jobs in neighborhoods across the county.

“One letter that we had was a grandma wrote to us stating how he made an impact on their grandson... how he would let them play with the dogs while he was working side jobs over there and just how that interaction with police changed their grandson’s view on police and how it made her feel safe in that community,” Cat Jumper said.

“Knowing that you can make a difference — whereas if I were to sit behind a desk, it’s kind of harder to do,” she said.

Patrolling the same neighborhoods

Cat Jumper moved from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in Greenwood to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office in 2025. Today, she patrols some of the same neighborhoods her father once worked.

“Funny enough, I actually work those same areas. So, I will come across people, and they see my name tag and make that connection,” she said. “Me and your dad had some issues, but he was a cool guy... it’s rewarding. That is absolutely rewarding to me — to have someone make that connection and tell me that experience.”

“It’s like he was out with this person at one point in time. Now, I’m out with this person at this time. So, it’s kind of special... it’s all mutual respect, all the way around,” she said.

Family support

Cat Jumper said her mother, Sara, has been the family’s support through the transition, including when she told her mother she was going to the academy.

“She’s a trooper. She’s been the rock the entire time... it took her by surprise, but she also deep down knew that this was going to happen,” Cat Jumper said.

Marking the anniversary

Cat Jumper and her mother have chosen to treat the anniversary of her father’s death as an ordinary day.

“The easiest part is kind of let it be a normal day, as weird as that sounds,” she said. “When you have such a profound loss, it’s like it’s always gonna be there. And it’s ups and downs, and you’re always gonna have that pain.”

She said wearing the uniform has had an effect her family did not expect.

“My family was concerned that it would be the opposite, but it has helped because I’m able to be closer to him in an indirect way. So, being in this uniform, I take pride in it. I do,” she said. “I’m gonna treat people with respect — how I would like to be treated. How I would like my dad to be treated is how I treat people. And I knew that he did the exact same thing.”

Six years after losing her father, Cat Jumper says she has found him again — on patrol, in a name tag and in the small kindnesses he taught her without ever meaning to.

Conley Jumper’s name lives on across Greenville County, including at the Sgt. William Conley Jumper Jr. School Security Center in Taylors, dedicated last October in honor of his decade in school enforcement.

An extended sit-down interview with Cat Jumper is available here.