Temple University honors late Sergeant Christopher Fitzgerald on 1-year death anniversary

PHILADELPHIA - Sunday marked one year since Temple University Police Sergeant Christopher Fitzgerald was killed in the line of duty.

Fitzgerald’s family members and friends, officers and city leaders gathered for a plaque dedication at Sullivan Hall. His picture and badge will now have a permanent home at Temple University.

"To say this year has been a living nightmare is an understatement, at times it has been unbearable," said Pauline Fitzgerald, Sgt. Chris Fitzgerald’s Mother.

The husband and father was patrolling near 18th and Montgomery Avenue when he pursued three young people dressed in dark clothes and masks, due to a rise in robberies in the area, according to police. 

Police say one of them, Miles Pfeffer, shot and killed Fitzgerald.

"It’s an agony type of pain that you wake up and you have to live with every single day," said Marissa Fitzgerald, Sergeant Fitzgerald’s widow.

Mayor Cherelle Parker also attended the ceremony, and asked Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and FOP President Roosevelt Poplar to join her at the podium.

"When you’re doing your work lawfully and not in violation of anyone’s constitutional rights, I, as mayor of this city, I will stand up and put it on the line for you, we won’t forget what your husband did to put it on the line for us," she said.

Fitzgerald’s family told FOX 29 last month that they are calling on the District Attorney to pursue the death penalty for Pfeffer.

"We are his voice, we will never go away, I will speak until there is no breath in me, and I will raise my babies to fight for their father for him to get the right justice that he deserves."

The Department of Public Safety also unveiled a memorial wall at 1801 N 11th Street to the family in a private ceremony.