GSP trooper killed in the line of duty remembered during processional

ATLANTA — Georgia first responders lined up to help family say goodbye to Trooper Jimmy Cenescar Friday.

Cenescar, 28, died in January while working for Georgia State Patrol Jan. 28.

GSP said he was trying to stop a motorcycle driver on the run-on Interstate 85 when his car hit an embankment near SR 317 in Suwanee.

Doctors pronounced him dead at the hospital.

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Hundreds showed up for his funeral at Mt. Paran Church in Northwest Atlanta on Friday before noon.

Troopers carried his American flag-draped casket into the church on horse and buggy.

First responders from around the metro lined Northside Dr. Traffic stopped on I-75 and major roadways while the procession moved from the funeral in Atlanta to burial in Mableton.

Family members told Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco outside the funeral that Cenescar had five siblings and 29 cousins.

At the funeral, one brother told the crowd, “I can still hear his laughter. His voice plays in my head over and over.”

Cenescar migrated here from Haiti with his parents and siblings. He was engaged to marry Natalia Croom.

“All of you have been impacted by him,” Croom said at his funeral. “I want to tell you all that even though he is not with us, you will always, always feel his love.”

Cenescar started working for GSP in January 2023.

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He worked for the Atlanta Police Department for three years before that.

In 2022, the 300 Club of Atlanta awarded Cenescar for rescuing a driver who drove off of a bridge.

He was set to graduate from Georgia Gwinnett College in May with a degree in Criminal Justice.

Georgia’s top leader, Gov. Brian Kemp, spoke at the award-winning trooper’s funeral.

“We are mad that his unfinished life was cut short, but we are also glad we had a savior that welcomed Jimmy’s soul to that greater place,” Kemp said.

Fellow law enforcement friends also spoke at his funeral. Loved ones sang songs and his church leaders preached sermons.

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His badge number, 436, floated over a photo of Cenescar fitted with his trooper hat and uniform. Wreaths of flowers surrounded his casket.

“He was ultimately a family man, and his dream was to take our family to the top,” said one of his siblings.

Family said loved ones from as far away as Canada and Haiti traveled here for the funeral.

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