Wife of slain McHenry County deputy lived ‘worst nightmare,’ but with conviction she and her family can now ‘look forward’

The widow of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Keltner said the last three years since her husband was killed by a Springfield man outside a Rockford hotel has been “every police wife’s worst nightmare.”

Becki Keltner, 36, said in a statement following the conviction of Floyd E. Brown who shot and killed her husband on March 7, 2019, while he was working as part of the U.S. Marshals Service task force serving Brown a warrant, that she “anxiously awaited” seeing justice.

That justice came on April 8 in the federal courthouse in Rockford when Brown, 42, was found guilty of second-degree murder in her husband’s death and attempted murder of three other U.S. Marshals, Michael Schulte, Michael Flannery and Dan Kramer.

“Hearing the details during the trial of March 7, 2019, the day when my world stopped turning, was incredibly difficult,” she wrote. “However, it brought me comfort to see how many people tried to help Jake and how many showed up for my family during the trial. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office has taken wonderful care of my family throughout the past three years, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their unending support.”

The two-week jury trial included harrowing testimony from marshals and police officers at the scene that morning, including Schulte, Flannery and Kramer. The marshals detailed being outside Brown’s hotel room as he shot through the door at them. Bullets just barely missed the officers.

Brown then jumped from the three-story hotel room window. As he ran toward his vehicle, he shot and killed Keltner as Keltner was calling 911.

Brown then led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a five-hour standoff along the side of a highway in Lincoln.

“Absolutely nothing can undo the damage that was done on March 7, 2019, the hurt that Floyd Brown caused so many people, or the fact that I will never hear Jake’s infectious laugh again or hear the familiar sound of velcro by the front door telling me he was home safe,” she wrote. “On that day, one man didn’t make it home, but I’m so thankful that the rest of them did.”

She finds solace in knowing Brown “will never be able to hurt another innocent person again.”

Brown’s defense attorneys argued that he did not premeditate or plan to shoot the police officers that day. They also said that he could not have – and did not – fire the fatal shot at Keltner because he was too injured from jumping out of the window.

The jury had the option of finding Brown guilty of first-degree murder. For that finding the jury would have had to believe Brown – who had made videos spewing his hatred for police and viewed videos on the internet of police officers being ambushed by gunfire – had planned to shoot police that day.

Finding him guilty of second-degree murder indicated the jury thought he shot the officers in the heat of passion.

“Even though he takes no responsibility for his actions, the jury was able to determine his character and guilt through all of the overwhelming evidence and his own testimony,” Becki Keltner wrote. “With the weight of the trial off our shoulders, my family can finally start to look forward to whatever the future holds for us. We will always hold Jake’s love in our hearts and never forget the happiness he brought to our lives as he watches over his friends, family, and fellow officers from above.”

Brown is set for sentencing July 19. He faces life in prison.