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Roswell honors fallen law-enforcement officers, including Officer Jeremy Labonte, at 2025 memorial
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Summary
The Roswell Police Department held its Officer Memorial Day ceremony in February 2025 to honor officers who died in the line of duty in 2024 and early 2025, reading names of six Georgia officers and presenting a memorial badge to Officer Jeremy Labonte’s family.
The Roswell Police Department held its annual Officer Memorial Day ceremony in February 2025 in Roswell, Georgia, to honor law-enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2024 and early 2025, including Officer Jeremy Labonte, who died Feb. 7, 2025.
The event gathered city officials, officers and family members for readings, prayers and formal remembrances. “These fallen officers, they represent the very best of us,” Mayor Curt M. Wilson said, adding that officers “ran towards danger when others ran away.”
The ceremony included a roll call of Georgia peace officers lost in 2024, read by an event presenter, with the following names and end-of-watch dates given at the ceremony: Deputy Sheriff Eric Minix, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office (end of watch Jan. 4, 2024); Trooper Jimmy Sonescar, Georgia State Patrol (Jan. 28, 2024); Deputy Sheriff Timothy Rivers, Crawford County Sheriff’s Office (Feb. 6, 2024); Trooper First Class Chase Redner, Georgia State Patrol (Feb. 20, 2024); Deputy Sheriff Brandon Cunningham, Paulding County Sheriff’s Office (Aug. 17, 2024); and Investigator Taylor Bristow, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office (Aug. 23, 2024). The presenter noted service histories and surviving family members for each officer as part of the roll call.
Roswell Police Chief Conroy addressed attendees and offered condolences and context for the annual observance. “Greater love hath no man than this: to lay his life down for another,” Chief Conroy said, acknowledging the families gathered and the department’s role in remembering its fallen. The chief noted that 165 officers nationwide died in the line of duty in 2024 and that six Georgia officers were honored in the ceremony.
The ceremony focused in particular on Officer Jeremy Labonte, whose death in February 2025 the mayor described as touching Roswell directly. Mayor Wilson said the city presented a memorial badge to Labonte’s immediate family and that Labonte’s name will be engraved on a local memorial in Foresight, Georgia, and on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. The mayor said Roswell residents lined the streets for Labonte’s funeral procession and that the department’s memorial at police headquarters served as a place of solace.
The service opened and closed with prayers offered by an officiant and concluded with remarks urging continued support for survivors and for officers still serving. Organizers said next year they plan to travel to Foresight, Georgia, and Washington, D.C., to honor Labonte and others whose names will be added to memorials.
