WATCH: Tears shed for Franklin police shooting victim
Family, friends remember Diahlo Grant
WATCH: Tears shed for Franklin police shooting victim Family, friends remember Diahlo Grant Check out this story on mycentraljersey.com: http://mycj.co/1SvztTO
Suzanne Russell, @SRussellMyCJ Published 6:33 p.m. ET April 25, 2016 | Updated 6:46 p.m. ET April 25, 2016
Funeral for police shooting victim Diahlo Grant. STAFF VIDEO BY SUZANNE RUSSELL
Portrait of Diablo Grant at his funeral at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer)(Photo: Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer)Buy Photo
Diahlo Grant was born in Jamaica and came to the U.S. in 1990
He graduated from the New Brunswick Adult Learning Center in 2007
He attended the Anthem Institute for graphic design and worked at Executive Shirt Laundry
He is survived by his mother, two sisters, a brother, six children and an unborn child
FRANKLIN (Somerset) - Just moments before the shiny silver casket holding the body of 27-year-old Diahlo Delano Grant was closed, Pauline Grant reached over to give her son one last kiss.
The loving gesture was one of many that brought tears Monday during the funeral for Grant at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens here.
Hundreds attended the service, including a tearful young boy who was escorted out of the sanctuary for part of the service.
Grant, a native of Jamaica, was shot and wounded by police on April 9 and died shortly afterward at a New Brunswick hospital. Grant allegedly exchanged gunfire with police after he was pursued by two uniformed Franklin Township police officers who followed him across the Franklin border on Somerset Street into New Brunswick.
The police shooting is under investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. No additional information has been released about the investigation.
Grant was the father of six children with another child on the way.
READ: Federal investigation may be sought in Franklin police shooting
READ: April 25 funeral for Franklin police shooting victim
READ: Longtime pastor calls for transparent process after deadly shooting
Reflections from family and friends
Grant's cousin, Brian Robinson, said he's having a hard time accepting his cousin's death, especially because his life was taken so suddenly.
"There is a spot in my heart that will never be filled. We were the closest cousins," Robinson said.
Robinson said Grant didn't drive, but he always found a way to attend the college games he played in. Robinson said Grant always told him he would be there for him.
Robinson recalled going to the beach with Grant. He said the current kept taking him farther out in the water. Grant was on the beach screaming Robinson's name and trying to get help.
PHOTOS: Franklin police shooting victim laid to rest
Stacy Burton, a friend of the Grant family, sings a solo during the funeral service for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Reverend DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, delivers the eulogy at the funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
The casket is moved from the church at the conclusion of the funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Pauline Grant, left, and Dashawn Grant, mother and brother of Diahlo Grant, leave the church at the conclusion of the funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Family friend Donte Stallings of Somerset, left, hugs Dashawn Grant, brother of Diahlo Grant, outside the church after the funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Gary Owens of Brooklyn, center, places his hand on the hearse holding the casket, after the funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Funeral for Diahlo Grant, 27, of Franklin, at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
Portrait of Diablo Grant at his funeral at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on April 25, 2016. (Keith Muccilli/ Staff photographer) Keith Muccilli/Staff Photographer
"I went under the water," Robinson said. "When I came to, he was holding me and said, 'that was a close one,'" Robinson said. "I can't survive without him. He did everything with me. He was my right hand.
"It makes me understand how precious life can be. We've got to come together everybody, friends, family. We owe it to him just to stay close."
David Willis said he went to the movies with his friend Grant just a few weeks ago.
"Nothing will ever be the same," he said.
Trevor Robinson Jr. talked about going with Grant to Great Adventure when he was too short for some of the rides, and taking him to New York to get a driving permit.
He said he asked Grant to stay with him for a while.
"I wanted to change his path. I didn't want this to happen," he said. "The way he went wasn't the way he was supposed to go."
Crying and weeping
In delivering the eulogy, the Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., church senior pastor, said life comes with tears.
Looking out into the sanctuary, Soaries said he saw emotional tears among Grant's family and friends.
"These are tears created by emotional stress. Anybody who does not encounter a tear after losing a young man, a 27-year-old, is not even human," said Soaries, "Emotional tears are the tears we shed in response to things that happen that shouldn't happen."
Soaries said there were tears because Grant's friends will no longer be able to hang out with him, tears for his children who no longer have a father, tears for not being able to see what Grant could have become.
"These are the tears of pain, the tears of disappointment and the tears of sorrow," Soaries said.
"We cry when we're disappointed, but we weep when the pain is so deep that words can't even describe it. We weep when we realize that what happened to Diahlo keeps happening to people all over the country."
As a child walking to elementary school in Montclair, Soaries remembered a man named Mr. Page crossing all of the students at a busy intersection. He said Mr. Page kept tabs on the children's behavior in and out of school and would contact his parents if the children misbehaved
"Mr. Page knew our parents, he knew about our studies, he knew about our community. Mr. Page was a trusted person who helped us cross the street, and in my mind he was just a nice guy who wore a blue suit," Soaries said.
Soaries said he was almost a grown man when he learned Mr. Page was a police officer who carried a gun. Soaries said he never imagined growing up to be afraid of Mr. Page.
"But now we have people in our community who wear blue suits and carry big guns and, unlike Mr. Page, we're afraid to be pulled over, we're nervous when they stop us, because Mr. Page is no longer one of us, Mr. Page is one of them," Soaries said.
And when tax dollars are used to pay people to protect the community and the community is afraid of those people, it's time to weep, Soaries said. Soaries said he doesn't understand how tax money can be used to pay people who take a young black life in the darkness of life.
"When you realize the context of why we are here, then you see the difference between crying and weeping," he said. "Weeping is emotional outcome of pain, but sometimes we cry without tears. We cried out when men were being lynched for sport in the South. We cried out when we had segregated water fountains. And we cried out when Diahlo Grant was shot and said we're not going to be quiet until justice is done."
Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com
Download our apps and get alerts for local news, weather, traffic and more. Search "MyCentralJersey" in your app store or use these links from your device: iPhone app | Android app for phone and tablet | iPad app Don't forget to 'like' us on Facebook!
Read or Share this story: http://mycj.co/1SvztTO
Woman, 29, critically injured in Linden crash
Lyndsay Ruotolo named acting Union County Prosecutor
Coyote tests positive for rabies in Hunterdon County
Woman, 62, found dead on street bench in New Brunswick
Hillsborough: Gov. Murphy freezes $500,000 for township road project
After Edison meeting on racist flyers, Indian man told to 'Get on a plane and get out of America'