Law enforcement officers salute as Officer Edgar Flores’ body is escorted into Yonah Memorial Gardens in Demorest for burial. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
Slain Dekalb County Police Officer Edgar Flores was buried today in Demorest, two days after what would have been his 25th birthday.
Flores, whose family lives in Habersham County, was shot and killed following a traffic stop in Dekalb on December 13. His body was returned home to Habersham Saturday to a hero’s welcome before being escorted to two separate funeral services this week.
Flores was buried at Yonah Memorial Gardens following the second service today at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch. Helicopters hovered overhead and scores of police officers saluted in tribute to the fallen officer as his casket was carried to its final resting place.
A life full of promise
Tuesday’s service in Dunwoody drew police officers and dignitaries from all over the state, including Governor-elect Brian Kemp. Flores’ younger brother Alexis spoke briefly during the service. “He was very loving, caring, fair,” he said of his older brother. “He fought for equality.”
Their father, Isidro Flores, said his sons were very close despite their nine year age difference. Edgar would drive his younger brother to school and soccer practice at Habersham Central High School, the same school Edgar graduated from in 2012.
The family’s journey to Habersham began in the Mexican border town of Nogales where Edgar Flores was born on December 17, 1993. His family came to the United States and settled in Habersham. Here, Edgar laid the foundation for a promising future. He was an honors student and soccer player at Central and, by all accounts, was well liked by his peers and teachers. He went on to graduate magna cum laude from the University of North Georgia.
In high school Flores met the woman he planned to marry, Lizandra Mora. They got engaged and dreamed of having a family.
“He was going to marry her,” fellow Dekalb officer Justin Hamilton said at Flores’ funeral Tuesday. “They were going to have children. All this was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen.”
In his eulogy, Hamilton recalled the moment he learned Flores had been shot. “As a first responder who responds to scenes where people are shot in the head, hearing that, you want to have hope, but, you know,” said Hamilton. “But still, I kept hope.”
His hope faded when about two minutes later he got the call telling him Flores was dead.
Also shot that day was Dekalb K-9 Officer Indi. He helped SWAT members track down the suspect who killed Flores. Indi was shot in the face but survived. The recovering K-9 came to the Dunwoody funeral to pay his respects.
DeKalb Chief of Police James Conroy gave Flores’ family two awards at Tuesday’s funeral, including a Medal of Honor.
“He was an example for all of us,” Chief Conroy said. “He made DeKalb County a better place.”
Alexis Flores hopes to do the same one day.
The commander of Dekalb’s South Precinct where Edgar was stationed shared a conversation he had with Alexis just hours after his brother died.
“As I was leaving him, he stated to me that he wanted to be a police officer,” Major KD Johnson said. “And he wanted to wear his brother’s badge when he became a police officer, a DeKalb County police officer. And I told him, I assured him, we would make that happen.”
