Georgia boy pays sweet tribute to fallen officer

A Georgia boy brought comfort to a grieving police department by paying a sweet tribute to a fallen officer.

Last week, Det. Kristen Hearne was killed in the line of duty in Cedartown.

As the funeral procession passed through Polk County, Hearne's fellow officers were moved to see 3-year-old Cohen, wearing a police officer's uniform and saluting as the funeral procession passed through Polk County.

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A co-worker of Hearne's (who wished to remain anonymous), sent Channel 2 Action News photos of the tiny policeman with this message:

"This little guy stood for the entire funeral procession saluting every police car as they passed. I can’t tell you what this means to the LE community. It just touched a lot of us here," the co-worker said.

We caught up with Cohen's mother, Mandy Brooks Chastain to hear the story behind her son's sweet gesture.

"Cohen has always looked up to police officers. He is so sweet and has always had the biggest heart," she said. "He loves superheroes and thinks of police officers as real -ife superheroes."

Chastain and her family are members of Victory Baptist Church, where Hearne's funeral service was held on Tuesday. The family attended her visitation to pay their respects. Cohen had a lot of questions about all of the police officers at his church.

"I told him the truth. I told him that a police officer got shot and killed by a 'bad guy,'" Chastain said. "He totally understood and he seemed so heartbroken."

Chastain explained to him that there would be a funeral procession the next day and asked Cohen if he wanted to go.

Of course, Cohen wanted to attend in his "uniform." But even his mom was surprised at how dedicated Cohen was to honor the fallen officer.

"He stood out there on that stool for hours saluting each officer that came by," Chastain said. "He made us so proud."

Det. Kristen Hearne leaves behind her husband and 3-year-old son, Isaac.

Cox Media Group