By David Markiewicz, Kristina Torres, Paul Donsky
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
They were called icons, legends, men of integrity, heroes. But Colin Barker just missed his big brother.
“We were supposed to grow old together,” Barker said of his older brother, Eric, a father figure for his family who “taught us right from wrong. He showed us how to be a man, how to respect others, always.”
LaToya Bryant cried as she recalled the boy she met when they were both 13.
“He taught me so much, so much,” Bryant said of her husband, Ricky. “I never thought he would be gone.”
Praise and pain resonated as hundreds of mourners on Wednesday attended a memorial service for two DeKalb County police officers gunned down last week. Ricky Bryant Jr., 26, and Eric Barker, 33, were shot to death while working an off-duty security job at a south DeKalb apartment complex.
Three men have been charged with murdering the officers: Mario O’Brian Westbrook, 31; William Maurice Woodward, 26; and Herbie DeShawn Durham, 32. All are being held without bond.
Both Bryant and Barker were in uniform at the time of the shooting. They appeared in uniform for the last time Wednesday, their open caskets flanked by a police honor guard before the memorial service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia. Mourners filed past before the service started to pay their respect. Then the caskets were closed and draped with large American flags.
For nearly three hours, both men were eulogized in words and music. Video slide shows of their lives played in the background as the massive church choir sang. As the pictures flashed by, some family members appeared overwhelmed and were surrounded by people offering comfort.
“If I could have taken the bullets for those two young men we are celebrating today, I would have done so,” said DeKalb police Chief Terrell Bolton, exhorting the crowd to take back their communities from violence. “If [Bryant and Barker] were here today, they would probably say there is a message in this mess.”
DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones told the families of the slain officers that they were not alone in their grief.
“We’re part of your family,” Jones said. “Today the healing process starts. Only when it is dark enough can you begin to see the stars.”
Some remembered the men as fellow officers who faced a common danger.
“You go out every day in the field and when you walk out the door, it’s by the grace of God that you come back,” DeKalb police Capt. Diane Loos said, as column after column of uniformed officers streamed into the church. “That’s the burden you bear and the price you accept.”
Colin Barker said his brother’s death shook him into a “rage I’ve never felt before.” It wasn’t until a friend called to counsel him that he calmed down. Now, he said, “I believe [Eric] is in heaven. That’s what’s getting me through right now.
“This is something I never thought would happen,” he added. “He believed in the system. He believed in the law. He believed in doing the right thing. I want to say that I’m saying goodbye physically to him right now...but spiritually, I’m never going to say goodbye. I love you, ‘E.’”
LaToya Bryant, too, seemed in search of answers. But she was sure of one thing.
“I know the man is in heaven because when I looked at my husband in the casket, he had a big smile on his face,” she said. “I’ve never seen a man with as big a smile on his face.”
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution