The daughter of a law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty received some heartfelt treatment Tuesday when deputies from a Georgia sheriff’s office escorted her to kindergarten on her first day of school.
Video shows Bibb County Sheriff David Davis walking hand in hand with Zerimrah Knight into the girl’s school in Macon, about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta.
“Good job,” a teacher says while clapping as the sheriff, flanked by a handful of other smiling deputies, walks the kindergartner sporting a pink backpack, pink tennis shoes and pink bows in her hair down a hallway to her classroom.
Deputy Sheriff Christopher Wilson Knight was fatally stabbed by an inmate while working in the Bibb County Jail during the early morning hours of April 6, 2021, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He was 30.
“Thank you,” Zerimrah tells the group, as the sheriff and the deputies stand next to at least one other of her family members.
“Bibb County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Sheriff David Davis were honored to escort the daughter of fallen Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Christopher Knight to class on her very first day of school,” the department wrote on its Facebook page.
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Man faces charges in Knight’s death
At the time of his death, Knight was working at the Macon County Jail and had been with the sheriff’s office since 2018. He was stabbed to death while he and other deputies were moving inmate Albert Dewitt Booze to a cell.
Booze, 24, faced charges including felony murder and aggravated assault, court records show. Booze, who remained jailed Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2022 and is set to stand trial at a later date.
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‘So special’
Statements from people who commented on the sheriff’s post online expressed gratitude to the department.
“Thank you BCSO and Sheriff Davis for being here for this sweet child and honoring her dad!” one Facebook user commented.
Another person posted: “This just brings tears to my eyes.”
“How sweet,” someone else wrote. “Good job BSO for making this precious little girl’s first day of school so special.”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
