End of watch for Las Cruces police officer Jonah Hernandez, laid to rest
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Las Cruces Police Department officer Jonah Hernandez was laid to rest after dying in the line of duty on Sunday, February 11.
On Wednesday Feb. 21, memorial services for officer Hernandez took place across El Paso with a procession from Martin Funeral Home to Abundant Living Faith Center to his final resting place at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story spoke at Hernandez’s church service saying how today is about remembering officer Hernandez and honoring his sacrifice and his life.
Story said many will remember Hernandez as an officer who dedicated himself to a calling very few understand.
“The events of that day will leave a scar on our city that will never fully heal. But Jonah was not just a police officer, he was a father, husband, a son. He was a brother, a nephew, an uncle, a cousin. Jonah was much more than just a law enforcement officer. To his family and his close friends, his death will alter their lives in ways that we cannot fully appreciate or imagine,” Story said.
Hernandez is the first officer to be killed in the line of duty in the 100 years that the Las Cruces Police Department had been founded.
On Wednesday, as many mourns the loss of their loved one, Hernandez’s wife Yesenia Lopez recollects their memories together.
“He was a wonderful husband, and we also shared a lot of joy and love. Our home was filled with laughter from his constant joking and random dance parties in our pj’s. He showed me a sense of peace and safety I had never known before,” Lopez said.
Hernandez is survived by his wife and two young boys.
Lopez said Hernandez and her shared over 11 years together and they enjoyed life as if they were kids.
“It was a nonstop adventure with my best friend,” Lopez said.
Family, friends and co-workers spoke about the loving personality Hernandez had and how becoming a Las Cruces police officer was always a dream of his and was a passion.
“He said that becoming a police officer had always been his passion and his dream. I believe this mindset helped Jonah become a highly effective law enforcement officer due to his pure motives of serving. It was not about authority or money, it was about serving,” a letter read on behalf of Hernandez’s father Jerry.
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