The wife of the Temple University officer who was shot and killed over the weekend said that she hopes the man who is accused of killing her husband is haunted by what he did for the rest of his life.
In an emotional interview with NBC10 News-Philadelphia on Tuesday, Marissa Fitzgerald didn’t hold back when she talked about the 18-year-old suspect Miles Pfeffer. She also said that her late husband Christopher Fitzgerald was a hero.
“You didn’t have a right to do that, you’re a coward, you’re bad, and I know what you did to my husband,” the woman with four children said. “You shouldn’t be able to breathe at all because my husband isn’t breathing, but you get to take in air.”
Pfeffer was arrested Sunday morning and is facing charges of murder, murder of a law enforcement officer, robbery, carjacking and illegal weapons possession over Saturday’s fatal shooting of the 31-year-old officer.
Prosecutors say that the person accused of killing the Temple officer went through his pockets as he lay dying on the ground from a bullet to the head and tried to steal his gun.
Marissa told the local station, “He took a family man, a father, a son, a brother, and a nephew. You took so much.” “This will change our lives forever.”
“I hope he’s haunted for the rest of his life and dies in jail,” she said.
The devastated widow said, “I have a lot of praying to do because I can’t forgive him right now.” She added that she and her late husband were both very religious.
Marissa is now a single mother of four kids between the ages of 7 and 13 because of the cold-blooded murder.
She said that Christopher was “a very hard worker who loved his job, but the best job he loved was being a father to those kids.”
Marissa said, “My kids will always know who their dad is.” “Their dad is a hero, and he’s the best hero we have.”
She said that their four children, two boys and two girls, miss their dad a lot.
Marissa told NBC10, “I’m going to try to be as strong as I can because I know that’s what he wanted.” “I’ll make sure they know who their father was. They know already. He’s the best hero we could hope for.”
The father of the man who was killed said he had never been more proud of his son.
Joel Fitzgerald Sr. said, “Chris was adamant that he could stay in Philadelphia and help make changes.” “We’re heartbroken, but we couldn’t be more proud.”
Marissa said that Christopher chose to become a police officer because he wanted to help people.
Marissa said, “He really wanted to make a change for the city so that people and kids could be safe.” “My husband was not a bad person. He was a good man and a good cop. “Great cop!”
According to the university, he was the first Temple officer to die on the job.
Christopher followed in the footsteps of his father, a veteran officer who led police departments in several US cities, including Fort Worth and Missouri City in Texas; Allentown, Pennsylvania and Waterloo, Iowa.
“He wanted to do it because he knew that was his method of giving back to our community,” Joel told the news station.
Marissa said she would make sure her husband’s legacy is carried on.
“He will not just be a portrait on the wall in the city.”
The grieving widow broke down into tears as she described her husband’s last words to her.
“He gave me a kiss and he told me that he loved me. And, I said ‘I love you too.’ And when he walked out the door, he said he’d be right back,” Marissa said. “He said, ‘I’ll be right back babe.’”