June 12 marks the date Constable Decardo Hylton entered and exited the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the institution to which he gave four years of invaluable service.
Hylton, 26, was killed during a June 12 operation to apprehend an armed criminal in Horizon Park, St Catherine.
He was remembered in a thanksgiving service punctuated with tears yesterday as family, friends and colleagues gathered to pay their final respects to a young man whose parents recall him as being brave and passionate.
Two other cops, Detective Corporal Dane Biggs and Superintendent Leon Clunis, also lost their lives as a result of the operation.
Janet Hamilton was a picture of grief as she spoke of her only child, whom she gave birth to at 19 years old.
She said Hylton would not miss an opportunity to shower her with gifts, whether it was Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day.
“Most Sundays, he would be the one to choose the menu. I’ll miss the cooking of ackee and salt fish, fried dumplings and, especially, barbecued pig’s tail,” his mother said tearfully during a remembrance at Bread of Life Ministries in Linstead, St Catherine.
She will also miss rubbing his head and telling him that she loves him, Hamilton said.
“I remember the day he was born. That was a bright day for me. Losing him today is – I don’t even know how to put it,” said his father, Gregory Hylton.
Hylton’s father left Jamaica for the United Kingdom when he was very young, but often returned to visit him and always kept in touch by phone.
Churchill Hamilton, Hylton’s stepfather, raised concerns about the quality of equipment provided for JCF members.
“He was wearing his vest on that mission, how could the bullet still pierce his heart? Is it that the equipment that our brave men and women of the police force [are given], in Jamaican terms, are shabby equipment?” he questioned.
“This needs to be fixed here and now. If that [is] not fixed, Decardo, our son would [have] died in vain,” he said.
Hamilton said the constable was lucky to have two fathers and he was blessed to have him in his life for over 21 years.
“Decardo was one of Jamaica’s finest officers. Cardo did not join the police force out of want … . It was his passion to serve, his passion to become an officer,” his stepfather said.
He recalled how helpful he was around the home, sharing that once he started the weed whacker, Hylton would follow with a rake.
Hylton was also credited for a lot of the interior design at the home of the close-knit family.
Hamilton added that his stepson was an excellent team player and it broke their hearts to lose him.
Hundreds of mourners attended the thanksgiving service, which was followed by an interment at Commodore Cemetery in Linstead.
I cried a thousand tears watching his funeral. He paid the ultimate price and I pray his death doesn’t go in vain. We are an ungrateful nation who treat are security forces like scum, they are sleep deprived ,underpaid and work under some less than accommodating circumstances. Lord please grant the families of the slain officers peace
Rest in Power Decardo,thanks for your service and it’s a tragedy you had to pay the ultimate sacrifice/price in ur duty to serve and protect Jamaica Land we love!!(REAL TEARS Squaddie).