7-year-old honorary officer gets honor chair from Freeport police after passing away to cancer
FREEPORT, Texas (KTRK) -- The Freeport police department unveiled a permanent memorial Thursday to celebrate 7-year-old Abigail Arias, who stole everyone's hearts with her determination to become a police officer.
The memorial featured a custom wooden chair from the non-profit, Saving A Hero's Place. This non-profit builds Honor Chairs for fallen American law enforcement officers.
Known as Officer Arias 758, the little girl will now be honored alongside other officers who have passed away.
Abigail's family was present at the event remembering Abigail's memory.
"It doesn't bring her back to have her here but thanks for taking the initiative and doing this for us," said Abigail's father, Ruben, at the event. "Thank you. You've been amazing to our family."
Her family also received a check with proceeds of more than $50,000 from decal sales and T-shirt sales.
Abigail's dream was to go into law enforcement when she grew up, but her cancer returned in April 2018.
She met Freeport Police Chief Ray Garivey in December who reached out to Cop Stop, an organization in Pearland, for a custom police uniform for her.
She was made an honorary officer with the Freeport Police Department on Feb. 7, 2019.
Abigail passed away on Nov. 5, 2019. She received a police escort to her funeral service.
