When she graduates from the NYPD police academy Thursday, Malika Grant will be giving a silent thank you to the man who helped her every step of the way — her godfather, a cop shot to death on the job 13 years ago.
“I know he’s extremely proud of me,” Grant, 24, said about NYPD Detective Robert Parker.
Even though Parker is no longer alive, Grant feels her big, burly godfather helped guide her through the academy.
“I felt like he was a part of everything,” she said. “I couldn’t have gotten through it without him.”
At the graduation ceremony at the Beacon Theater Thursday, Grant will be proudly wearing Parker’s badge number 28544, which he wore as an officer. In a few years, she hopes to be sporting his detective shield number.
Parker and Detective Patrick Rafferty were shot to death responding to a domestic disturbance in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, on Sept. 10, 2004.
Their killer’s mother had called police complaining her son, Marlon Legere had repeatedly taken her car without permission. When the detectives confronted Legere, he managed to grab Parker’s gun and shoot both cops with it.
The mortally wounded detectives shot Legere in the foot and gave responding officers pivotal information on how to find him, officials said at the time.
Legere, now 42, was convicted of the double murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.
Parker, 44, had been a longtime friend of Grant’s family and was dating Grant’s mother when he was killed.
Grant was 10 when Parker died. She was photographed dressed in white, standing by his coffin at his funeral but the young cop prefers to think about happier times.
“He was funny and energetic … a big teddy bear,” she said about the man she lovingly called Bobby. “On the day he passed I was with him. We went to a diner together and had a food fight.”
“I am happy that I will carry his shield number and his legacy,” she added. “It will be a reminder of him every day. I know he would be in total shock and amazement to see me graduate the academy (but) he always told me that if I follow my dreams and be true to who I am, I could accomplish anything.”
Grant will stand among 400 of her classmates as they become probationary police officers on Thursday. She’s already assigned to the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village.
Grant’s mother, Mary Moore, who will be attending the graduation ceremony with Grant’s sister Alasia Hendrick, a city corrections officer, said Grant always wanted to follow in Parker’s footsteps.
“He was the true father figure for her,” Moore, 60, said. “He helped mold her into the young lady she is today.”
“(Malika) had just told me the other day that she wished Bobby could be at the graduation,” the proud mom added. “I said he will be there in spirit and in her heart — and that’s the key to everything.”
