CHICAGO (CBS) — Hundreds of people gathered Sunday on the city’s Far South Side to honor fallen Chicago police officer Enrique Martinez, who killed while on duty last week while responding to a traffic stop.
It was a packed house with standing room only in St. Christina Church as hundreds of people came out to pray for the slain officer’s family. Martinez was shot and killed during the traffic stop near 80th and Ingleside. He was 26 years old.
the police said Darion McMillianMartinez, 23, and the driver of the car McMillian was in were shot and killed.
“The moment I heard about it, I can’t tell you how much it hurts for them because I absolutely know what they’re going through,” said Elizabeth French, who lost her daughter, and Chicago police officer Ella French, who was shot. and killed during a traffic stop in 2021.
She talked about the message she had for the Martinez family, who are now mourning their own loss.
“That pain doesn’t go away, but every hug you get, every show of support means so much,” French said. “And while it won’t take anything away, it will help.”
French was one of hundreds of people who packed the service for Martinez on Sunday morning.
Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) also attended the mass, but said to prevent more tragedies from happening, they must do more than pray.
“Faith without action is a lie,” Lopez said. “And the state needs to take action and do what it needs to do. The federal government must start taking this seriously.”
The church asked community members to wear blue in solidarity with police and Martinez. They also wore buttons with his face on them.
The “Officer Down Memorial Page” shows that since 1853, 571 police officers have died in the line of duty in the city of Chicago.
“It’s astronomical,” said Father Ryan Brady of Saint Christina Church. “The number of these events is unfortunately accelerating.”
McMillian was charged with first-degree murder along with other charges. Last week a judge ordered him to remain in custody.
Visitation for Martinez will take place next Sunday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, followed by a Mass on Monday, November 18, at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel.
