Family Says Farewell To Ex-CHA Officer Who Died With Chicago Cop
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Friends and family gathered Saturday to say their final goodbyes to Stephen Peters.
The former CHA police officer was killed alongside Chicago Police Officer Michael Flisk Nov. 26 as Flisk investigated the theft of parts from Peters' prized Mustang car. A parolee has been charged in the double murder.
As everyone in the church held hands and sang, Peters was remembered as a quiet hero. Mourners gathered to celebrate his life, and share their loss.
"There is a hole in the universe now that Steve's gone," Robert Peters, Stephen's father, said.
But the elder Peters hopes his son's spirit will live on through the lives he touched. Some were complete strangers, like the children Stephen Peters would stop to help.
"He'd see them, and if he had shoes that were run down he would take three or four guys and just buy them shoes and then take them and drop them off and wouldn't say anything to their parents or anything," the father said.
Peters' longtime friend and former partner, Damone Riggins, says that's just how Stephen was. He was also a dedicated officer.
"We worked some of the most tragic areas in the city of Chicago -- Robert Taylor, Cabrini Green, and no matter how bad things got officer Stephen Peters was always there," Riggins said.
Peters enjoyed the nickname of a certain superhero.
"He called himself superman, and right now superman is in heaven," his former partner said.
"His mother just slipped a Superman into his lapel jacket which was the hardest thing I've ever seen her do," Robert Peters said.
Peters leaves behind a wife, an 18 year old son, and two adult stepsons.
Ninteen-year-old Timothy Herring is charged with the murders of both Peters and Flisk. Herring had been out of prison for two months on parole at the time of the shootings.
