OKC Police Officer Honored For Efforts To Save Infant

The tragic death of a 2-month-old boy 13 months ago touched the heart of an Oklahoma City police officer, and Monday, led to a change in state law. 

Kyle Maly, 30, found Shepard Dodd unconscious after getting a 911 call from an Edmond home daycare on April 6, 2015. 

Maly administered CPR, and refused to leave Shepard Dodd’s side after EMSA arrived and took over. 

The daycare provider had put Shepard in a car seat with a blanket, and left him in a bedroom to take a nap. 

Shepard’s parents Ali and Derek Dodd were on hand Monday night, when Oklahoma City’s Fraternal Order of Police awarded Maly “Officer of the Month.” 

The Dodds were glad to be there.  

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Ali Dodd. 

After her son’s death, she began a statewide safety campaign. It culminated Monday with Gov. Mary Fallin signing into law a measure that forces daycare providers to provide “safe sleep surfaces” for infants under their care.   

Maly also had Shepard Dodd’s name stitched onto the front of the bulletproof vest he wears everyday on the job.

“There’s some calls you don’t ever want to forget, regardless the outcome, so I just wanted to carry his name with me,” he told News 9 Monday afternoon.