‘Odell displayed love’: Friends and family remember slain Conway police officer
In the mid-1970s, Odell Cochran caught his childhood friend off guard when he turned and said he wanted to be a police officer.
“On that momentous occasion,” Larry Jones said, “the legacy of James Odell Cochran began.”
That legacy is one of compassion and one of service to the community as a police officer, his friends and family said. It was a legacy that ended last week when Cochran was murdered at his Horry County home.
Police continue to hunt for Eric Kwajae-Mikhail Faulk, 22, of Conway, who they named as a suspect in the apparent homicide. Friends and family say Cochran raised Faulk.
Cochran’s family, friends, fellow officers and local dignitaries packed Friendship Baptist Church in Conway for his funeral Tuesday.
“I truly believe Odell displayed love,” Jones said.
Growing up, Jones said he and Cochran were typical boys. They played as cowboys and army guys and participated in basketball, baseball and football. They rode bikes into the woods, where they hunted with BB guns.
“Odell and I were as close as brothers,” he said.
In their teenage years, Cochran got his hands on a Chevy pickup truck – Jones wasn’t sure how – and painted it to look new. The only problem was that the gas gauge didn’t work.
That meant the two friends had to speed up and then slam on the breaks to listen for the gas to slosh around to know they had fuel. The story drew laughter from the crowd of hundreds.
Cochran graduated high school in 1973 and enrolled at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. The two worked manufacturing jobs until that fateful day when Cochran said he wanted to be a police officer.
“He would greet you with a big smile or a deep frown … depending on the situation,” Jones said. “We are so proud of his accomplishments from his law enforcement career.”
Conway police Chief Dale Long remembered when he was a new cop and Cochran welcomed him without difficulties.
“I never had to prove anything to him,” Long said.
There were no strangers to Cochran in Conway and Long said he often turned to Cochran for information about locals.
“He knew everyone that was out there,” Long said.
The chief recalled a time where officers responded to a massive argument at a housing complex. Cochran pulled up, knew everybody and started to tell people where they needed to go and who needed to be quiet.
“When he showed up, he was calm, he was a stabilizing (figure),” Long said. Later the chief described his friend’s presence as “when he showed up, it was just like magic.”
Cochran was compassionate and could connect with others, Long said.
Cochran joined the Conway police department on Jan. 26, 29178 and retired on Jan. 27, 2003, Long said. Cochran took to retirement well, spending all of one month before rejoining the force. He served another 13 years until he retired in April 2016.
At one point, Long started to discuss legacies and mentioned how Cochran trained other officers. It was then about a dozen police officers from various Horry County agencies stood to say they were trained by the man many knew as Odell.
“He was always a positive role model for anyone under his leadership,” Long said. “Just because he is gone, doesn’t mean his difference is.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
