Businesses Donate Fallen Detroit Officer’s Funeral, Burial Expenses

DETROIT, MI — Detroit Police Officer Myron Jarrett, 40, was known for the kindness he showed strangers when he pulled out his ticket book — his “man purse,” his colleagues teased — wrote out a ticket and counseled offenders firmly, but gently too, about staying on the right side of the law. On Monday, the family of the 12th Precinct officer who was fatally struck by a speeding van on Oct. 28, will give him a dignified funeral, thanks to the kindness of strangers.

Edward Swanson & Son Funeral Home in Madison Heights is donating the cost of the funeral, according to Tim McGillen, the general manager in St. Clair Shores for the funeral home’s parent company, the Detroit Free Press reported. Dignity Memorial Network. Woodlawn Cemetery is donating the burial plot and cost of the headstone, and Detroit Wilbert Vault Co. is donating the burial vault.

The funeral will be held at noon Monday at the Second Ebenezer Church, 4601 Dequindre St. in Detroit. Visitation is from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday and 2-9 p.m. Sunday at Edward Swanson and Son Funeral Home, 30351 Dequindre Road in Madison Heights. Burial will be at Woodland Cemetery at Woodward and State Fair avenues in Detroit.

The Troy Police & Benevolent Fund is giving $500 to Sacha Jarrett, the mother of the couple’s four children. The couple’s 21-year-old son, Christian Jarrett, started a GoFundMe account to cover his father’s funeral cost. That money, which totaled about $3,720 on Friday night, will now go to offset future family expenses.

Police said Steven Guzina, 54, was high on crack cocaine when he struck Jarrett, who was stopped about 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, to investigate a traffic collision near Monica Street and Puritan Avenue. The officer was thrown 30 feet in the air on impact and died Saturday, Oct. 29, at a Detroit hospital.

Guzina was ordered held without bond in the Wayne County Jail after his arraignment on five felony charges, including second-degree murder and operating while intoxicated, causing death.

Photo via Detroit Police Department