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Remembering Sac County Deputy Robert French 1 year after he was fatally shot

It's been exactly one year since Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French was shot and killed near an Arden Arcade hotel.

It's been exactly one year since Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Robert French was shot and killed near an Arden Arcade hotel.

"I just know to text him and let him respond," said Kaylen Bynoe, daughter. "He didn't respond. I called. No answer and I had to call somebody to find out."

Bynoe was with family on the one year anniversary.

"All of us were in disbelief because, as some of his partners called him, they called him 'Superman,'" Bynoe said. "He had a joke that if you pushed his button a cape flies out. So when I had to make the calls to my family and say it was him this time, nobody believed me. I don't think I believed myself."

Bynoe reflects on some of her memories with her father and her childhood by listening to country music.

"There was a lot of outdoor stuff, but there was also the simpler times where we are a movie family and so if a good movie came out we would go get McDonald's or something to eat Round Table Pizza," Bynoe said. "That was one of my favorite memories with him."

French was a 21-year veteran of the sheriff's department.

"He was untouchable and everybody saw him that way," Bynoe said. "Everybody thought he was amazing at what he did, and he was. It was him being amazing that ultimately took his life, but he probably saved a lot more people by his own life being taken."

The one year anniversary, Aug. 30, 2017, is an especially hard day for the family. Bynoe lost her grandparents 10 years ago on the same day.

"I've kind of been happy through the process because, going through this 10 years ago with his parents, my grandparents, I kind of think it prepared us for this," Bynoe said. "Yes, we're sad and we're mourning, but we know our dad would want us to be happy and to live our lives in his name, and just do the best we can and make him proud."

A memorial of painted rocks to remember French is in El Dorado Hills on the corner of Olsen Lane and El Dorado Hills Boulevard.

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