Slain Officer Wilbert Mora was remembered Wednesday at an emotional St. Patrick’s Cathedral funeral as a man whose big heart could not be stilled by a killer’s bullet.
The 27-year-old Mora was posthumously promoted to Detective First Grade as tears flowed inside the Midtown house of worship, where family members and New York Police Department colleagues recalled his final act as a cop: Donating his heart and four other organs to five anonymous recipients.
“They will hear the heartbeat of a hero,” said NYPD union head Patrick Lynch in his eulogy. “Know now your son has given renewed life to five other people.”
Mora’s commander at the 32nd Precinct said the young officer’s commitment to “the profession and the community that he served” continues despite his death from a gunshot fired by an ex-convict inside a Harlem apartment hallway.
“Even though he no longer walks among us he has given the greatest gift of all,” said NYPD Inspector Amir Yakatally. “Because of Wilbert, five strangers were given the gift of life. He is a hero. Please know that he will never be forgotten.”
The solemn sendoff began at 10 a.m., with the ringing of church bells to honor Mora echoing down Fifth Avenue on a chilly morning. The officer was gunned down answering a domestic dispute call alongside partner Jason Rivera on Jan. 21.
The four-year NYPD veteran’s family donated his heart, liver, pancreas and two kidneys before Mora passed away four days after the shooting. Three of the organs went to his fellow New Yorkers.
His police colleagues joined Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell for their second sad sendoff of a young NYPD hero in the new year, with officers from the 32nd Precinct seated together inside the church.
“He absolutely loved this job, with a kind soul and an infectious laugh,” said Sewell, again addressing a police officer’s slaying in just her fifth week on the job. “He always wanted to give back. … He was a true leader, an exceptional police officer.”
Sewell, to a standing ovation, announced Mora’s promotion. Mora, a Dominican immigrant, left behind his parents, two brothers and a sister.
His brother Wilson, in the morning’s last eulogy, recalled how the 6-foot-3 Wilbert lived with the enthusiasm of a little boy.
“I just want you to know that I was always proud of you,” he said. “You chose a life of service to your community and our adopted country. … I love you, baby brother, and I will always miss you.”
The service began with Cardinal Timothy Dolan delivering prayers alongside Mora’s white casket, with a floral arrangement bearing the officer’s badge number of 15918 as a backdrop. Mourners sang “Amazing Grace” as Dolan stepped up on the altar, just as he did at Rivera’s funeral.
An emotional Mayor Adams, a former NYPD captain, referenced Mora’s last gifts to applause from the mourners and urged the city to unite behind the loss of another murdered officer.
“The pain unites us in this moment … to build a city of peace out of the ashes of fear,” said Adams, who also praised Officer Sumit Sulan for fatally shooting the suspect who killed Mora and Rivera.
The reference to Sulan elicited a standing ovation from the crowd.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who came under attack from Rivera’s widow last week over his crime policies, tweeted out during the Mora funeral that his office would “vigorously prosecute anyone who does violence against police officers.”
A line of police officers stood in line outside the cathedral, waiting to get inside as local streets were blocked off. A half-dozen New Yorkers stood nearby holding signs that read ”New York is with the NYPD!” One day earlier, mourners filed through St. Patrick’s to offer their prayers at a wake for the officer.
Dolan wrapped his arm around the shoulder of Mora’s father as the family gathered outside the church before heading off to a Queens cemetery. A line of motorcycle officers preceded Mora’s casket on his final ride, with the mourners passing beneath a large American flag.
The emotional sendoff for Mora came only five days after the city paid homage to Rivera, 22, at the same cathedral.
___
© 2022 New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
