3 days Ago By Sophie Sherry
Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez was an “exemplary” officer who sacrificed his life while working in one of the toughest districts on the South Side, CPD Supt. Larry Snelling told a packed church Monday at the young officer’s funeral. Snelling asked Martinez’s family to look around the pews of St.
Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel, 7740 S. Western Ave., and notice the law enforcement officers who traveled across the country to attend the funeral.
“Two weeks ago today we lost a hero,” Snelling said. “Officer Enrique Martinez gave his life protecting our city. This is his day.
This is his family’s day. Nothing more, nothing less.” “The willingness to give your life for the safety of others is the most noble thing you can do,” Snelling said.
“They understand the sacrifice. They understand what it means to do this type of work.” Martinez was killed Nov.
4 during a traffic stop in the Chatham neighborhood. The 26-year-old had been the force for nearly three years. Darion McMillian, 23, was charged with opening fire from the passenger seat that evening as Martinez approached the car, fatally shooting Martinez and McMillian’s friend who was driving.
McMillian, who was on electronic home monitoring for another case, allegedly used a handgun equipped with an extended magazine and a switch to fire automatically. As the casket arrived by procession late Monday morning, a crowd of hundreds outside the church fell silent. Standing alongside officers were several prominent politicians including former Mayor Richard M.
Daley, Cook County State’s Attorney-elect Eileen O’Neill Burke and a handful of alderpersons. Mayor Brandon Johnson decided not to attend the funeral at the family’s request. Gov.
JB Pritzker also was asked to not attend . Inside the church, Martinez’s older brother explained how they both joined the Chicago Police Department despite their mother’s attempt to shield them from the dangerous profession. “But as hard as she tried, we realized it wasn’t just a job,” said Adrian Martinez Jr.
, who works as an instructor for CPD. “It was our calling to serve the disadvantaged and to protect the forgotten. We wanted to live the life of a hero.
Becoming police officers was not just the job title to us, but who we were supposed to be.” Enrique Martinez “met the love of his life” at age 16, became engaged to marry her, and joined the CPD in his early 20s, Adrian Martinez Jr. said.
On the night he was killed, he “looked evil and terror in the face and took his final breath,” his brother said. Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez. Chicago Police Department “He was murdered on a cold, dark, forgotten street,” said Adrian Martinez Jr.
, whose speech was given a standing ovation. “You may not know it, but that night, my brother saved countless lives as he was pierced by multiple bullets, every bullet that struck my brother, could have taken the life of someone’s mother, father, sister, brother or friend.” Enrique Martinez’s colleagues, officers Francisco Nunez and Abdullah Saleh, spoke of Martinez’s sense of humor and how it occasionally got him in trouble during their time in the police academy.
They recalled his love of smoking cigars and of pets. He took care of two German shepherds. Snelling, in his remarks, talked about a public shift in growing respect for police officers.
“There are people who want us there. The tide is turning. People are understanding the importance of law enforcement.
They are starting to understand what our true purpose is,” Snelling said. At a visitation service on Sunday, officers came from across the country to honor Martinez at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in suburban Oak Lawn. Last weekend, Martinez was honored at a memorial Mass at St.
Christina Church in Mount Greenwood. Martinez is among several officers killed on the job during the past few years: Luis Huesca , Aréanah Preston , Andres Vasquez Lasso and Ella French . Editor’s note: Officer Enrique Martinez was incorrectly identified in a photo in an earlier version of this article.
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