Since March 23, 2025, each day for Courtney Candies is another day of survival.
For the first time since the tragic death of her husband, St. Tammany Sgt. Grant Candies opens up about the moment that changed her life forever.
“I have a story, and it needs to be heard,” Candies said Thursday.
She said before she got the news of her husband’s death, she jumped out of her sleep in the middle of the night with the feeling that something was wrong.
She checked her husband’s location and saw that he was near the Oak Harbor exit, so she texted him and asked if he was OK, but he didn’t respond.
“So, I figured, OK, he’s just busy,” Candies said, but a couple of hours later she heard a knock at her door.
It was her husband’s team from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“I knew it was something bad,” Candies said. “One of his team members said, ‘There was a pursuit. He’s on the interstate; he didn’t make it.’ And that’s when my world fell apart right then and there.”
She said that her and her children’s world haven’t been the same, and even while she is trying to remain strong for her babies.
Her once happy and vibrant children are now carrying a burden no child should have to bear.
Candies describes her husband as fun, loving and a protector of their family.
“He was a great dad, and he was a great husband,” Candies said, “He lived to irritate me sometimes. He got up in the morning with the intention to see if he could make me yell, because he said I was cute when I was mad.”
Fifteen months later, and she and her children are working to adjust to living life without him.
“Although I have my moments and I have panic attacks when I see a police unit going down the interstate with lights on. I’m still here. I’m still feisty, and I know what’s best for me and my kids,” Candies said.
On top of living with grief, Candies is also attending court hearings for the three teenage suspects charged in the case.
A judge just set the trial date for Adrian Waughtal and Mason Fischer, who are both charged with second-degree murder, and Michael Lanier, who is charged with manslaughter.
“Not only (do) I have to deal with this. They have to deal with this as well. We have to put our lives on hold. We are waiting for all the evidence because we know what’s coming,” Candies said. “We know we’re going to see everything surrounding my husband’s death, and even the potential of watching his body cam footage as they run him over.”
Candies told WDSU that right now, she is trying to mentally prepare for the trial, adding that it’s hard for her to see the suspects in court.
“I’ll go, and I’ll sit through that trial every day for months, if it takes that to make sure that they don’t ever have the opportunity to hurt another family like they have hurt mine again,” Candies said.
The three suspects are scheduled for trial Feb. 16, 2027.
READ MORE:One year later: Fallen St. Tammany sergeant’s widow shares her story
