April 11, 2001
(ATLANTA) - More than 100 female police officers paid a special tribute to one of their own as Sherry Lyons-Williams was laid to rest.
Lyons-Williams, 39, the first woman to be killed in the line of duty in Atlanta, was shot down during a drug raid last week. Her partner, Thaddeus Chambers, was wounded and killed the suspected drug dealer.
About 3,500 people, including hundreds of police officers from as far away as Michigan and Canada packed the Jackson Memorial Baptist Church or stood outside during Lyons-Williams’ funeral Tuesday. During the service, the woman officers marched past the casket and saluted.
Lyons-Williams was remembered during the service as a loving wife, an attentive friend and a gutsy woman who once dealt with a man she suspected of wanting to rob her at an ATM machine by pulling out her service revolver and asking him if he was “right with the Lord.”
***A scholarship fund has been set up in honor of the slain officer at the University of Georgia, where she earned a political science degree.
Contributions can be sent to: Sherry Lyons-Williams Scholarship Fund, UGA Foundation, Athens, GA 30602-5582, Attention: Jeff Delk.