Officer who died in crash was getting married in Oct.
Ohio cop ‘was such a good man,’ his mother says.
CLEVELAND — A North Randall police officer who died in a one-car crash on Ohio 176 in Cleveland was set to get married in October, family members said.
Officer Herschell Whitfield, 33, who worked for the police department since 2013 and worked for Orange police prior to that, was set to marry his girlfriend of four years, Shalya Brown, on Oct. 22 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Whitfield died Wednesday in the crash on the off-ramp to Steelyard Boulevard, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner said. He was the father of a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl.
“He was such a good man,” said his mother, Celestine Whitfield. “He loved everything about his kids and he loved his fiancée.”
Brown said he wanted to be a police officer from the time he was a kid. He told her he wanted to be a better police officer than what he saw from the officers in his neighborhood growing up in the Morris Black public housing complex.
“He said, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ’em,’ ” Brown said.
North Randall Police Chief Ronald Mosley said in a statement that Whitfield was known as a “morale booster” and led an anti-bullying campaign for the village’s youth.
“The whole community of the Village of North Randall is deeply saddened from the tragic death of Officer Herschell Whitfield,” Mosley’s statement said.
Whitfield was set to leave the North Randall department for a job March 4 with the University Hospitals police department.
He grew up with an older brother who also served in the military and two younger sisters. His sister, Marquetta Dix, said he was a protective older brother that helped his younger sisters out whenever they needed it. “He helped me every day,” Dix said.
He graduated from John Hay High School, where he played basketball and football. He joined the Army and spent time deployed in Iraq, but never spoke about his time there, Brown said.
He remained in the Army Reserves. He got his criminal justice degree from Cuyahoga County Community College. His family said he adored his two kids. He coached his son’s AAU basketball team and took his kids on trips to the park or Wendy’s or to the movies.
“They were like best friends,” Dix said. “They were happy to do the little stuff together . ... Every little thing just put a smile on everyone’s face.”
Whitfield met Brown four years ago when he responded to a call at the Jack Thistledown Racino, where Brown worked in human resources. It was her last day on the job and Whitfield asked for her number. She gave it to him and walked away. He called five minutes later.
“He was just so funny and fun,” she said. “We always did fun stuff together. We loved going to the movies, especially scary movies.”
On Dec. 12, Whitfield walked into University Hospitals, where she now works. He put a poinsettia on her desk and started to grab a ring to propose. But she’s allergic to that flower and had to chose between getting an allergic reaction and saying yes.
The night before he died, he held a dinner fundraiser for his son’s AAU basketball team. He brought leftover fried chicken, greens, string beans and pound cake. They sat on their porch in the 70-degree weather and ate with their hands.
“He loved being a police officer, he loved his kids and he loved his family,” Brown said. “He put his family before anyone else.”