51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Hundreds of people gathered Saturday to mourn the death of 51黑料 police Officer David Lee III, filling church pews amid white roses, remembering him as a man who believed in the greater good.

More than 400 people, including throngs of police, streamed into the sanctuary of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on the city鈥檚 northwest side and paid final respects to Lee, who lay dressed in uniform.

51黑料 police Chief Robert Tracy told the crowd during the two-hour service, 鈥淲e have lost not just a protector but a soul who believed in the greater good.鈥�

Lee was killed Sept. 22 after an alleged drunk driver spun out of control and hit Lee, a traffic officer. He later died at SSM Health 51黑料 University Hospital. He was working a single-car accident scene, on a slight bend of eastbound Interstate 70 between Adelaide and East Grand Avenues when the roads were apparently slick.

鈥淒avid鈥檚 life touched people in so many profound ways,鈥� said Latasha Gaston, a minister, from the church pulpit Saturday.

Before Lee鈥檚 casket was closed, a woman, supported by other family, cried out, 鈥淥h God ... I just want him to come home.鈥�

Lee, 44, grew up in public housing in the Carr Square neighborhood. He went to Pattonville High School, where he did well academically and was a captain on the basketball team. Like his father, he worked at the Ford assembly plant in Hazelwood. He switched to police work when the plant closed in 2006.

51黑料 police Lt. Paul Lauer said Lee never had one citizen complaint filed against him since he hired him to work traffic in late 2019, which included writing tickets.

鈥淚f he was having a bad day, you would never know it,鈥� Lauer said. 鈥淒avid was the consummate professional.鈥�

He said Lee didn鈥檛 complain, despite being called out to horrible crash scenes in the middle of the night.

鈥淒avid always showed up to do what was necessary to get the job done,鈥� he said. 鈥淒avid put his life on the line each day for the people he was sworn to serve. His sacrifice will never be forgotten.鈥�

Friends and family members described him as a devoted husband and father who also loved sports and to attend family gatherings. He and his wife, Tonya, have two children, Khalil and Saniya, and were married 19 years.

鈥淒avid lived in the 44 years in his life more than many of us do in 90,鈥� said Charlotte Leong, a family friend who knew him since he was just a 鈥渨hisper.鈥� She said she saw him grow into a man of integrity.

鈥淗e鈥檚 remembered for giving a lot and asking for little,鈥� Leong said.

His younger sister, Danielle Lee, said David Lee prepared her well since the first days of navigating the desegregation program in school.

鈥淚f I could leave you with anything today,鈥� she said from the pulpit, 鈥渋t would be don鈥檛 just show up for the good times but show up for people in their darkest times. David did that for me my entire life. To see the outpouring of love and support these last couple of weeks shows me that he did the same for you all. And that right there makes me the proudest little sister ever.鈥�

In the incident, Ramon Arnaldo Chavez-Rodriguez has been charged with DWI death of a law enforcement officer, a felony. Police said a draw of Chavez鈥檚 blood two hours after the 8:30 a.m. accident showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.10; the legal limit for operating a vehicle in Missouri is 0.08.

Chavez, 24, of St. Peters, is also accused of exceeding the speed limit by 16-19 mph, a misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle without a license, a misdemeanor. Investigators say Chavez was driving at least 71 mph in a 2019 Kia Sorrento seconds before his vehicle spun out in the rainy weather and struck Lee, who was removing items from his trunk. Police said Lee was pinned between the two vehicles and then thrown several feet.

On Wednesday, Chavez pleaded not guilty to the crimes. Shawn Goulet, his attorney, did not respond to requests for comment about the fatal crash and funeral.

Chavez, originally from Honduras, is in the country illegally and had other brushes with the law, officials said. Conservative lawmakers have seized on the incident as the result of soft border enforcement policies.

Tonya Lee has said she knows Chavez was in the country illegally, but she said she didn鈥檛 want to get involved in politics. She instead described her husband as a great man.

鈥淎mazing husband,鈥� she said. 鈥淎mazing father. Amazing person.鈥�

On Saturday morning, a blue and gray wreath placed at the location where Lee was struck Sept. 22 on Interstate 70 had already gathered dust. Broken glass and trash littered the narrow shoulder as traffic buzzed by, coming around the bend.

鈥淵ou have to be careful,鈥� said Kevin Chattman, 49, who has lived in the area of the College Hill neighborhood, on Linton Avenue, most of his life. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen some real wicked stuff on that highway. Pileups. Cars flipped over. Wrecked cars on the other side of the median. If you aren鈥檛 used to being right there, you won鈥檛 know how to maneuver when it鈥檚 hectic or if the traffic stops abruptly. You have to prepare for that.鈥�

Like many others across the city, he said Lee鈥檚 death is tragic.

鈥淚 hate it when bad things happen to good people,鈥� he said.

Lee had seen a lot of that before his own life was cut short. As his funeral concluded, bagpipers played 鈥淎mazing Grace鈥� and Lee鈥檚 casket was loaded into a horse-drawn hearse on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.

Hundreds of mourners, many dressed in black or dark blue, watched under the sun and a police helicopter thumping overhead.

Then they got in their vehicles and drove home.