Remembering the fallen: Clayton, Lewis honored
Tuesday marked the oneyear anniversary of a tragic day for Central Florida lawenforcement officers, but the events honoring Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton and Orange County Deputy Norman Lewis celebrated their lives and impact on the community.
The fallen deputy’s mother, Norma Lewis, found a reason to dance when the University of Central Florida presented her with a portrait of her son.
The slain officer’s husband, Seth Clayton, hugged
Lewis during a joint memorial service and declared, “We’re all family now.”
And dozens of people marched through the Washington Shores neighborhood during a “Legacy Walk” to celebrate Clayton’s dedication to community engagement. ‘A day of celebration’
The day started at UCF, where Norman Lewis played football.
“Today is going to be a day of celebration,” Norma Lewis said before the ceremony, flanked by family members, neighbors and others who knew and loved her son. “We are celebrating Norman's life — the sacrifice that he gave doing the job that he loved to do.”
“Trust me, if he had to do it all over again, he would do it exactly the same way,” she said.
Tuesday gave the family a reason to celebrate. Her son’s former team just finished the season undefeated, and in her words, “Once a Knight, always a Knight.”
Apart from being a former player, Lewis worked at virtually every home football game as a motorcycle deputy.
“He would’ve been standing on the seat of that motorcycle. I know that’s what he would have been doing,” UCF Police Chief Richard Beary said.
Before joining a motorcade to another service, Norma Lewis — wearing a football jersey with her son’s number — walked up to the portrait and took a minute to reflect. Comforted by her surviving son, she touched the portrait, bowed her head and wept softly.
Norman Lewis died in a motorcycle crash Jan. 9, 2017, while searching for Markeith Loyd, the man accused of killing Clayton in a Wal-Mart parking lot earlier that day.
‘We’re all family now’
Later in the morning, Norma Lewis stretched up to wrap her arms around Seth Clayton in a hug after a joint memorial service for their loved ones.
“We’re going through this together,” Clayton said. “We’re all family now.”
Nearly 100 family and law-enforcement officers attended a prayer and remembrance ceremony at ICP of Orlando.
Clayton and Lewis embodied the type of law-enforcement officers their communities could be proud of, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
One year ago, Demings and Orlando Police Chief John Mina got “the dreaded phone call no one wants to receive,” Mina said.
Officers at the hospital where Clayton and Lewis were taken were broken and grieving, Mina said.
But Lewis’ mom wanted the anniversary of their deaths to be a day of celebrating their lives and commitment to helping others.
“Don’t take it as a day of sorrow,” Norma Lewis said. “They’re with us in our hearts.”
Lewis’ captain, Simon Shackelford, led a memorial procession bearing a shield on his own motorcycle with Lewis’ name and end of watch date. Lewis’ motorcycle was destroyed in the crash.
Still, the day brought a flood of painful memories. Going through the procession felt like laying Clayton to rest all over again, Seth Clayton said.
Clayton and Lewis vowed to keep each other in prayer.
“Prayer is the key,” she said. “Prayer will get you through when you have these bad days.”
A legacy of engagement
For those who knew her, Debra Clayton was a unifier.
She organized community walks to connect officers with residents, fed low-income senior citizens through her community-service sorority and mentored at-risk youth.
“Her legacy is definitely community engagement, and partly because of her we have gone above and beyond. We’ve gone out of our way to interact with our community,” Mina said at a “Legacy Walk” organized in her memory.
Law-enforcement officers, city leaders, community members, friends and family walked a half-mile around Dr. I. Sylvester Hankins Park in her honor. A handful of police officers grilled burgers and hot dogs for about 100 people who gathered.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and City Commissioners Regina Hill and Patty Sheehan also were among the walkers.
“She knew the connection we had to make with our youth. She knew that not every conversation had to start with, ‘Can I see your identification?’ ” Mina said.
One time, he recalled, Clayton organized a march on Ivey Lane, west of Orlando. More than 20 officers and dozens of residents showed up on a hot Saturday in the middle of summer.
“When we reached the final destination of that march,” Mina said, “Debra got up on stage, and she said these words that I will never forget. She told the residents, ‘Don’t give up on your police department.’ ”
Clayton was also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a national black sorority that focuses on community service. Kathy Gary-Henry, head of the Orlando chapter, said Clayton was a key member.
“We’re here for our support. She was very active, very vital, a wonderful person in the sorority, very active in the community,” Gary-Henry said.
Renita Osselyn, a former Orlando police officer who retired in 2012, said Clayton had a positive outlook on life, which helped her connect with young people.
“She wanted to bridge the gap between community and law enforcement to let folks know — law enforcement: we’re not the bad guys,” Osselyn said. “We come when people call. It’s a partnership. And that’s what she tried to get people to understand.”