Burks’ mother joined more than 100 officers, relatives and friends as Dallas police unveiled a portrait honoring him nearly 2 years after his death.
By Everton Bailey Jr.,
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Dallas police officer Darron Burks never let a day pass without checking on his mother.
Morning or night, by phone or text, Cherie Jeffery knew she would hear from her son.
“Mom, I’m just checking on you,” she recalled him telling her.
Nearly two years after Burks was killed in the line of duty, Jeffery stood before more than 100 cops, relatives and friends Friday as the department unveiled his painted portrait.
“I am so proud of him,” Jeffery said. “I am so proud of the life that he lived.”
The portrait, showing Burks smiling in his Dallas police uniform, will hang inside the department’s South Central Patrol Division, where he served before he was fatally shot Aug. 29, 2024.
Burks, 46, was sitting in his patrol vehicle outside the For Oak Cliff community center when police say Corey Cobb-Bey shot him. Two officers who responded, Sr. Cpls. Karissa David and Jamie Farmer, were also shot and wounded. David was left blind.
Police pursued Cobb-Bey into Lewisville, where Dallas officers fatally shot him after police said he got out of his car holding a gun. A Dallas County grand jury later cleared the six officers who fired at Cobb-Bey.
In March, Jeffery sued Cobb-Bey’s parents and a north Oak Cliff pawn shop, alleging his parents failed to secure firearms and the store negligently sold him the handgun used in the shooting.
Burks’ portrait was one of two unveiled by Dallas police on Friday. Later in the day, a portrait honoring Police Report Representative Kathy Munn Lockhart, who died in 2021 after contracting COVID-19 while on duty, was also revealed. Her portrait will hang in the city’s 911 communications area.
Friday’s ceremony for Burks began outside the South Central Patrol Division headquarters in nearly 100-degree heat. A bagpiper played as a member of the department’s Honor Guard led Jeffery, her sister Barbara Tidwell and other relatives and friends to seats in the front row.
Two Honor Guard members carried the covered portrait to an easel. Family members nodded as speakers remembered Burks and occasionally wiped away tears.
Maj. Breanna Valentine said the portrait would serve as a reminder of Burks’ life and service, not simply another image hanging on a wall.
Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux said Burks’ death resonated far beyond Dallas.
“We will never forget Officer Burks,” Comeaux said. “Never ever will we forget Officer Burks.”
Before becoming a Dallas police officer in 2023, Burks spent years teaching math at Texans Can Academy. He had served the city for about a year and five months when he was killed.
Jeffery remembered her son as a man who loved people and spent years mentoring students. She said Burks often asked her to help him encourage children who struggled with relationships with their parents.
After Jeffery spoke, the cover came off the portrait. Relatives smiled and Burks’ niece raised her phone to capture the moment.
The portrait was then moved inside the building, where Jeffery’s eyes filled with tears as she embraced a family friend during the closing prayer. Comeaux later hugged her.
Tidwell lingered beside the portrait after the ceremony, beaming at her nephew’s likeness.
“I just love it,” she said. “It shows who Darron really was, which was strength, courage and love. We love him and we miss him.”
Breaking News Reporter
Everton is a breaking news reporter at The Dallas Morning News. Before joining the breaking news team, he covered Dallas city government. He joined The Dallas Morning News in November 2020 after working for The Oregonian and The Associated Press in Hartford, Conn.
