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Murdered Guyanese NYPD cop remembered two years later
By Feona Morrison
Members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) gathered yesterday in Le Repentir Cemetery, Georgetown at the graveside of murdered NYPD Detective Randolph
Members of the NYPD salute at their comrade’s graveside. Also in the photo are the father, financée and other relatives of the Detective Randolph Holder Jr. (inset)
Holder Jr., who was a Guyana native.
During a simple, but significant ceremony, they reflected on the life of Holder Jr. who was killed in the line of duty on October 20, 2015.
Holder, 33, and his colleagues, were responding to a report of shots being fired and a bicycle stolen at gunpoint in Manhattan’s East Harlem neighbourhood.
They encountered a man riding a bicycle and soon after there was an exchange of gunfire, during which the cop was struck in the head.
Tyrone Howard was later sentenced to life imprisonment for fatally shooting the cop.
Howard was convicted of aggravated first-degree homicide and has no chance of getting parole.
Among those gathered around the slain’s cop graveside were his father, Randolph Holder Snr.; his fiancée, Mary Muhammad, and other relatives and members of the Guyana Ex-Police Association.
The service was declared open with a gun salute from ranks of the GPF, followed by a prayer and scripture readings from the Holy Bible.
Holder Snr. was the first to lay a wreath on his son’s tomb painted in blue and white.
The father thanked both the GPF and NYPD for keeping his son’s memories alive.
He said that the organizations’ efforts have helped his family with bearing their sorrow.
Inspector Clint McPherson said that the death of his colleague is still a “tremendous loss” to the NYPD. Inspector McPherson also said that the death of his colleague has brought many Guyanese together.
Thus far, the NYPD and the slain cop’s family have donated several items to the Georgetown Public Hospital, GPF and orphanages.
On Saturday, October 31, 2015, President David Granger, scores of NYPD and GPF officers were among hundreds of mourners who stood in the rain during the funeral of Holder Jr. who was laid to rest in Guyana after stirring tribute.
His funeral service was kept at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Brickdam, Georgetown.
NYPD Commissioner William Bratton posthumously promoted Holder Jr. to Detective and issued him a new gold shield with the same number of the badge worn by his father, who was also a member of the NYPD. Holder Jr. joined the NYPD in 2010 following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom had been police officers in Guyana.
Earlier this year, the Queens, New York street where the slain detective grew up was renamed in his honour. The intersection of Briar Place and Collier Avenue in Far Rockaway is now known as the Detective Randolph Holder Way.
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