On the one-year anniversary of the murder of Miami Police Sergeant Carl Patrick, his fellow officers gathered Wednesday to unveil a commemorative plaque in his honor.
"For those of you who knew brother Patrick, you would know he was not only a great officer but a real gentleman," said Major Dennis Jackson of the Miami Police Department at Wednesday's event.
Investigators say Patrick's girlfriend, Tiniko Thompson, shot Patrick and left him for dead inside their Pembroke Pines home.
Thompson claimed the shooting was in self-defense, but recently lost her bid to have her case dismissed under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.
She's been charged with second-degree murder and is slated to stand trial sometime in October.
Patrick, an Army veteran, had been with the department since 1989 when he was killed. Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes told the crowd gathered Wednesday that they should all aspire to be and live like Patrick.
Patrick's mother, Lucille Patrick, was in attendance to see her late son honored.
She told NBC 6 South Florida that her faith is what has helped her to forgive her son's accused killer.
"Everybody asks, can you forgive her? I will because my Lord says on the cross, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' So I'll forgive her, but she should be punished for what she done wrong to my son," Lucille Patrick says.
