Fallen Officer Laid to Rest
By: Jecoliah Ellis
Updated: January 29, 2008
Friends, family and a lot of other police officers gathered in Rochester Monday to remember a fallen Georgia officer who grew up here. 26-year-old Ricky Bryant Jr., a Gates-Chili graduate, was murdered January 16th. He and another officer were ambushed, working off duty security at an apartment complex in an Atlanta suburb. Close to one thousand people attended Bryant's funeral.
Freddie Herner is Officer Ricky Bryant's Father-in-law. He says he'll never forget the day he met his daughter Latoya's boyfriend - Ricky was a teenager then. "From that moment on I knew he had honor and respect, which is rare these days with young guys."
Besides being a Dekalb County police officer, Bryant was a marine. He also served in the Iraq war. Inside the funeral, people who knew him best talked about who he was.
"A man of standard. A man of hope. A man of vision. A man of honor," said fellow Dekalb County Police Officer Sheldon Pritchard.
"He was so special. He gave to everyone. Everything he had if it would help you he'd give it to you," said Sheena Bryant, Ricky’s sister.
His wife, Latoya says before Ricky died - he kept singing the lyrics to "Good Man" by India Arie. She now knows why. "He said if the sun comes up and I'm not home I want you to be strong. And When I'm not beside you I want you to do your best to carry on. Tell them there daddy was a good man,” Latoya read the lyrics.
Dekalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton will never forget the night two of his officers we're gunned down. "It was a cold night in Georgia. The total numb feeling that went over me. It's pretty rough."
Bryant had quite the police send off. Dozens of officers, including the Dekalb county honor guard, came up from Georgia to pay their respects. As well as dozens of officers from Monroe County and across New York state.
"I think you see in their spirit they understand it could have been them. And they watch and want to know how you'd treat them if it happened to them," said Dekalb County Police Chief Bolton.
Bryant was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery Monday afternoon. He leaves behind his wife Latoya and his four children.
