Thursday, January 8, 2009
Site of detective's murder memorialized
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- The City of North Miami Beach memorialized a fallen City of Miami Police detective by dedicating a portion of the road where he was killed to the officer.
Exactly one year prior to the dedication, Andrew James Rolle mistook Detective James Walker's car for a rival gang member's, according to investigators, and opened fire on the deputy's vehicle along Northeast 17th Avenue and Glades Drive. Police took the 20-year-old gunman into custody, where he remains today.
Walker's family, friends and colleagues turned out Thursday to see a portion of Glades Drive renamed Detective James Walker Jr. Drive. "It makes me real proud of him, for them to want to name a street after him," said his father, James Walker, Sr. "That makes me real proud."
Miami Police Chief John Timoney wants the sign to evoke memories of a man who was willing to step outside of his department's boundaries to serve and protect the public. "Marking the spot where he was gunned down is really important," said Timoney. "It will remind the people in this area, where his wife lived, that an officer wearing a badge, even though he was a City of Miami Police officer [was killed]. We take that charge pretty serious and wanted to step in as he did to protect somebody else, even when it's outside of our jurisdiction."
The grand honor proved bittersweet for Walkers' parents, who have spent the last 12 months reliving their son's murder. "Something like that is always going to flash across your mind when you have a kid or anyone like that passes away," said his father. "It just tore me up. It really just destroyed me. I just couldn't believe it."
Isabella Walker summed up her sorrow succinctly. "Real painful," said the detective's mother. "Heartbroken."
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