Georgetown: A military salute and grief-stricken relatives greeted a flag-draped coffin of slain hero NYPD Officer Randolph Holder as it arrived to the St. George's Cathedral Saturday morning.
The Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Georgetown, Guyana and is one of the tallest wooden churches in the world.
Fellow members of the NYPD filled the vacant wooden benches as the casket lay in ceremonial attire before being transported to the La Repentir Cemetery Georgetown for burial.
“This is not the homecoming we expected, this is not right,” said Holder’s grandmother, Elizabeth Lovell.
The casket and Holder’s relatives were transported to Guyana via a Fly Jamaica Aircraft, while a large number of NYPD ranks arrived on a Caribbean Airlines flight shortly after.
Many of the NYPD ranks who came are Guyanese who migrated to the USA or are of Guyanese heritage. For them it was a case of coming to Guyana after years to see their fallen colleague off. Leading the group for this mission is Guyana-born New York based NYPD Inspector Clint McPherson of the 17th Precinct who was briefed by senior Commander Clifton Hicken.
Amongst those at the airport were Holder’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Lovell in whose care Holder was entrusted after his mother passed away 19 years ago. She was his shoulder to lean on and her pension was his main support during his years at the Dolphin Secondary and ultimately Christ Church Secondary.
Also present was his aunt, Maureen Lovell and younger brother, Kellon, his main playmate when they resided at lot 17 D’Urban Street, and ultimately South Ruimveldt after fire destroyed their home.
Meanwhile, the officer’s suspected killer, Tyrone (Peanut) Howard, hobbled into a Bronx courtroom Thursday to faces charges of selling crack cocaine while behind bars on Rikers Island two years ago.
A heavily-guarded Tyrone (Peanut) Howard, his two cuffed hands on a cane as he entered the hearing, wore an orange prison jumpsuit at a bail hearing that was totally redundant.
The sullen defendant was already jailed without bail after his arrest in the Oct. 20 killing of Holder, 33, in an East Harlem shootout.
Howard was limping from a gunshot wound to the leg suffered when Holder’s partner returned fire.
Howard was charged with trying to peddle 33 bags of cocaine inside the city jail on May 17, 2013. He was flanked by seven court officers, with another half-dozen stationed nearby.
The defendant was wanted on a Bronx warrant after missing a Sept. 29 court date in the case. Cops were also pursuing him in a drug-related Sept. 1 shooting in East Harlem at the time of the Holder shooting.
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