Senior Officer Gail Thomas died helping other Atlanta Police Department officers and on Wednesday the police department she loved so much dedicated a highway memorial sign in her memory.
“This person worked for 20-plus years and she did everything she could to do the job correctly,” said Lt. Jeff Cantin, Thomas’s supervisor. “She was a great person to work (with) — always had a great smile. She was the perfect employee.”
The sign unveiled Wednesday morning at APD headquarters will go near Exit 251 on I-75, near where she was struck and killed while on duty in January 2012.
Thomas had responded to a wreck at I-75 southbound, near the ramp to I-85 northbound and was trying to direct traffic to protect the two young officers working the scene. She was struck by a drunk driver.
“With her motherly instincts … she did not want anything to happen to those two young officers,” Cantin said. “I believe she did everything she could and that’s what she did — she gave everything she could.”
Thomas had worked with APD for 25 years and it wasn’t unusual for her to watch out for the younger officers, Cantin said. She was known for guiding officers fresh out of the Police Academy through their transition from “the book-work to the street-work.”
“We hope that this will bring us some additional closure,” Cantin said. “Between this and the conviction earlier of the person who took her from us, we’re happy.”
Chasity Jones, 22, of Stone Mountain, was convicted on charges of vehicular homicide and failure to obey the directions of an officer in Thomas’s death. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The APD began the process to get the sign erected last year, Cantin said. The effort was lead by Cantin, Deputy Chief Renee Prope and Community Affairs Liaison Alice Johnson. Rep. Pat Gardner, D-Atlanta, later joined the effort.
Thomas’ daughter, Jasmine Sherman, attended the unveiling and said she liked the sign.
“I just know that my mom really deserves this,” she said. “She was awesome. I love my mother.”
Since her mother’s death, Sherman has graduated with her college degree, just like Thomas would have wanted. “I just kept going for my mother,” she said.
Despite dealing with the loss of her mother, Sherman said she’s thankful for all that has happened since Thomas’s death.
“I thank God everyday for everybody I have; the mother I had,” she said. “I thank God every day for it.”
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