Constable Crystal Thomas was laid to rest on Sunday, August 9 following a memorial service during which she was remembered as a “hero”, someone who smiled in the face of life’s challenges and who was a helpful soul.

During the well-attended service at the Ebenezer Fellowship Church of God Seventh-Day in Spanish Town, St Catherine, tears flowed amidst tributes for the 24-year-old Thomas, who was attached to the Kingston Western Police Division.

Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams said that Thomas gave her life to save others. “[She] lies here today, an example of the sacrifice made by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force every day,” he said.

“Rest in peace, Crystal, your work here is done but those of us who are left behind will carry on. We will never retreat, we will never surrender,” Williams said.

Derrick Smith, the Opposition spokesperson on national security, offered words of comfort to Thomas’s family and colleagues, adding, “All is not lost. She lit a flame in our hearts.”

Thomas was gunned down on Spanish Town Road, in Kingston, on July 14, while making her way home.

Cornwall ‘Bigga’ Ford, the Senior Superintendent in charge of the Kingston Western Police Division, said during his delivery of the eulogy, “Crystal was a person who gave and gave with her life. Today, sorrow fills our hearts… our lives will be empty in the areas she filled…”