Remembering Ernie

By Tom Waring

Times Staff Writer

Joyce Davis fondly recalls her husband, Ernie.

"He was a very good father, and he loved being a cop," she said.

Ernie Davis, who lived on Minden Road in Parkwood, worked in the Police Department's radio room before becoming an officer. He was assigned to the 25th Police District.

The five-year veteran was on patrol shortly after 3 a.m. on July 16, 1980, when he heard a report of a man with a gun at Broad Street and Erie Avenue.

The officer approached the gunman, who was in a group of men, and was shot. He was transported to Temple University Hospital, and initial reports were that he was going to survive, but he died at 6:50 a.m.

"It was a shock," said Joyce Davis.

Last week, almost 29 years after the murder, a large crowd gathered at Broad and Erie to honor the sacrifice of Ernie Davis.

As part of the Hero Cops program, a plaque was installed in the sidewalk near the exact spot where the officer was shot. The plaque is the sixth that has been dedicated this year - and 69th overall - as part of a joint effort of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and lawyer Jimmy Binns.

The Police Academy classes 235, 236, 237 and 238, which graduated in the mid-1970s, sponsored the plaques.

Deputy Police Commissioner Patricia Giorgio-Fox, who was part of class 237, said the officers from that era have remained close and were proud to sponsor the plaque.

"There's never been a time that we've been together as a group that Ernie Davis' name hasn't been brought up," she said at the July 1 ceremony.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham pointed to the officers who had graduated from the Police Academy just two days earlier and thanked them for making the commitment to help people and make a difference.

"Good men and women want to serve," she said.

There was a brief scare when one of those new officers, a 23-year-old man, collapsed face-first to the ground, apparently due to the heat. Medics rushed to the scene and provided oxygen. He was alert before being taken to Temple University Hospital and was released after being examined.

Otherwise, the ceremony was just like previous ones, dignified and focused on the fallen officer's legacy.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby presented the family with a pillow that included the words inscribed on the plaque.

"It was very nice," Joyce Davis said of the ceremony. "It's great that they do this and remember them in this way."

Binns promised the Davis family and all other families of slain officers that the union and department always will be there for them.

"Whatever you need, it'll get done before the sun sets that day," he said.

Besides his wife, Davis was survived by a 5-year-old son, Chris. Today, Chris Davis doesn't remember much of his father, but does recall watching Flyers games and playing Whiffle ball with him. In one game played in the driveway of their home, Ernie Davis broke his leg.

As he grew up, young Chris was cared for by his mom and extended family.

"Family has always been there," he said.

Chris Davis, who has a wife, Jaimie, and a 2-1/2-year-old daughter, Jordyn, is grateful that his father was remembered in a special way.

"I hope we don't have too many more of them," he said of plaque dedication ceremonies.

Megan Eroh, the officer's niece, spoke on behalf of the Davis family. She was 8 when her uncle died.

Eroh recalled spending time with him on holidays, special occasions, vacations to Wildwood, at Sunday spaghetti dinners and watching Phillies and Eagles games. She recalled his smile and laugh and love for golfing and bowling.

"He will always be my personal hero," she said.

Detective Robert Lagera, now deceased, made an arrest the morning of the shooting. The suspect, Leslie Beasley, had a long criminal record.

Beasley committed a murder in Atlantic County, N.J., at age 16 as a member of the "Dogtown Gang" and served three and a half years of a 10-year sentence.

After his release, he fathered six children and was arrested nine more times, including multiple incidents of assaults on police officers.

A jury in the Davis case convicted Beasley of first-degree murder. The panel, which included a Roman Catholic nun, took less than an hour to sentence him to death.

After his arrest in the Davis killing, he was linked to the shooting death of a 26-year-old bicyclist, Keith Singleton.

A jury sentenced him to death for that crime, too.

Former Govs. Dick Thornburgh, Bob Casey and Tom Ridge have signed death warrants for Beasley, but courts have stayed his execution each time. He is the longest-serving inmate on Pennsylvania's death row.

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There will be eight more police plaques dedicated in 2009.

Here are the victims' names, the dates and locations of the ceremonies, and the sponsors of the plaques:

¥ George Barnett, July 22, 42nd and Pine streets, sponsored by Detective Gary Capuano.

¥ Samuel Hewitt, Aug. 5, 601 E. Sedgwick St., Beneficial Bank.

¥ James Quigley, Aug. 5, 601 E. Sedgwick St., Plumbers Union Local 690.

¥ Emil Muller, Aug. 26, 214 McKean St., School Police Association.

¥ James Kane, Sept. 9, 3712 N. Sydenham St., Common Pleas Court Judge James Murray Lynn.

¥ Stephen E. Sawka, Sept. 30, York and Sepviva streets, officers of the 26th district.

¥ Stephen Dmytryk, Oct. 14, 1900 Spring Garden St., officers of the 9th district.

¥ Daniel Gleason, Oct. 28, 1300 W. Sedgley Ave., St. Martin of Tours and 35th Ward Democratic Committee.

All ceremonies take place at 11 a.m.

Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com