DETROIT – Family, friends and colleagues gathered Thursday night at the Martin Luther King High School for a vigil held for James Hearn, an off-duty police officer who was killed with his girlfriend in a collision on Woodward Avenue.
ORIGINAL STORY: 27-year-old off-duty Detroit police officer, girlfriend killed in crash on Woodward Avenue
Emotions ran high, but there was also an upbeat mood at the vigil. People remember Hearn as a larger-than-life figure whose approach to life was to make the most out of every moment.
Hearn graduated from Martin Luther King High School and school friends, family and Detroit police officers gathered there as football practice ended.
The entire high school football team took a knee throughout the memorial.
The vigil was organized by Detroit police neighborhood liaison India Washington.
"He was a hard worker, started at the 12th precinct, then he ended up at downtown services. That's hard work," Washington said. "You think about him when you think about these officers that you're standing next to. They represent James."
"He lived his life to the fullest. I mean, this year alone, boy has been to Costa Rica, boy been to Cancun," said Hearn's brother Justin. "He lived. He worked hard and he played hard. James had one goal -- he wanted to be a Detroit police officer. He conquered that goal."
They released balloons as a farewell to Hearn.
Justin Hearn is a postal service police officer, but he told the crowd his brother inspired him and now he intends to join the Detroit Police Department, looking to take his brother's place.