Funeral for Newark Sgt. Joseph Azcona, 26, held after deadly police shooting
The funeral for Sgt. Joseph Azcona, a New Jersey police officer killed in the line of duty, was held Friday in Newark.
Azcona, a five-year member of the Newark Police Department, was shot and killed on March 7 at the corner of Carteret Avenue and Broadway in Newark. The 26-year-old was working with federal law enforcement to crack down on reports of illegal guns in the area at the time.
A 14-year-old was charged with murdering him and attempting to kill another officer, the Essex County prosecutor's office said. The teen will be prosecuted as a juvenile because New Jersey does not allow a waiver for anyone under 15.
Emotional funeral for slain police detective
Streets closed around Newark to accommodate hundreds of police officers, family and community members attending the service at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Born into a family of law enforcement, Azcona quickly rose through the ranks of the Newark Police Department, becoming a detective after just three years and also a member of the special intelligence unit.
"Last Friday night, he was doing just what he was hired to do, to make the streets of Newark safer, and he was just doing that, until he met evil," said Anthony Ambrose, Newark's former public safety director.
"To lose an officer like this so young, at the start of his career, the valor that he showed, and the other officers that went that night, when a 14-year-old has an automatic weapon that can shoot those kinds of rounds, this has, I think, shattered our community," New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said.
Fellow officers carried Azcona's flag-draped casket into the cathedral after a private prayer at St. Lucy's Church.
"We don't flee from pain. Joseph didn't do that. As a police officer, he came face to face, he touched the wounds, he saw the suffering that people can inflict on each other," said Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark.
Captain Patricia Rodrigues-Alfieri, with the Newark Major Crimes Unit, read a note by Azcona's 26-year-old partner, who was wounded in the shooting and is recovering.
"He faced danger with courage, met adversity with resolve and wore his shield with pride," Rodrigues-Alfieri said. "It doesn't feel real. We were at the same place at the same moment when the tragedy occurred, and the thought that he's no longer here by my side is something I still can't fully process."
Fallen detective posthumously promoted
Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda Sr. read a note Azcona wrote before he joined the force, saying he dreamed of becoming an officer since childhood so he could fight crime in his community and make his family proud.
"My uncle, who has been a police officer for nearly 25 years right here in the city, he is one of my biggest inspirations," Miranda said through tears. "My uncle also told us that law enforcement is a great career for those who are brave."
Azcona graduated from the police academy at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. He was posthumously promoted from detective to sergeant during Friday's funeral service.
"It is my honor and my privilege, we will be promoting Detective Azcona to the rank of sergeant," Miranda said.
"God, we beg your forgiveness of what happened here in this city on that day, and we vow to do better," Mayor Ras Baraka said, calling for peace.
Gov. Phil Murphy directed flags to be flown at half-staff to commemorate Azcona's life.
On Wednesday, hundreds of people turned out for an emotional vigil at the intersection where the fallen officer was shot.
