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by Joan Murray
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― Friends, family members and officers from South Florida and around the country gathered Friday afternoon at The Broward Center for Performing Arts where the flags are flying at half-staff to honor the memory of fallen BSO Deputy Brian Tephford.

The funeral procession, led by hundreds of motorcycles and marked police cruisers, began around 1:15 p.m. at the T.M. Ralph Funeral Home, 371 NW 136th Ave. in Sunrise

The procession shut down traffic along Broward Boulevard from Sunrise to Fort Lauderdale. All major intersections were closed as the procession passed. Uniformed police officers, firefighters and BSO employees lined the streets to honor Deputy Tephford as his hearse passed.

Another honor was given as the hearse, flanked by motorcycle units, moved past the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. Officers in their dress blues stood in silence as the units passed by.

Once it arrived as the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, it passed under a flag-draped archway created by two BSO Fire Rescue ladder trucks, and a riderless horse with boots turned backwards in the stirrups followed the procession up the driveway. The riderless horse is a military tradition. The horse is meant to symbolize the ride into the next stage of life. The reversed boots signify the fallen hero looking back on his troops as he passes on.

BSO Chaplain, Pastor Rick Braswell, and BSO Sheriff Ken Jenne spoke at the memorial service. BSO Deputy Corey Carbocci, also shot during Saturday night's incident, was also there.

Sheriff Jenne read the eulogy followed by a letter written by Tephford's four-year old daughter.
Click here to read the letter.

Those in attendance also watched a video tribute followed by a 21-gun salute, Taps played by bagpipers and a flyover by helicopters from BSO, Miami-Dade police and the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office.

Tephford will be buried in New Jersey.

NYPD officer, Mike Defan, told CBS4, "a coward dies a thousand deaths and I hope that's true for him," referring to Tephford's killer. "I hope he does die a thousand deaths."

Tephford's mother spoke to reporters Thursday, saying she always feared for the worse when she found out her son had joined the police force six years ago.

"I always worried," said his mother Carol Aponte. "I was worried everyday."

She spoke after a visitation that took place at the T.M. Ralph Funeral Home. Dozens of police officers filed inside, some consoling each other among tears and hugs. They also consoled Tephord's mother.

"We had a trooper from Delaware knock on our door at 8:30 Sunday morning and broke the news," said Aponte.

Tephford, the father of twin toddlers and a 4-year-old girl, was shot to death Saturday night in the parking lot of the Versailles Gardens condominium complex where he was on his way to provide security in an off-duty work detail.

A Memorial Fund has been established at the Sheriff's Foundation of Broward County. The fund will be used to create a trust account to help meet the educational needs of Tephford's children.

Checks should be made payable to the Sheriff's Foundation of Broward County. On the memo line, please reference the Brian Tephford Memorial.

Checks should be mailed to:

Sheriff's Foundation of Broward County
2601 W. Broward Boulevard, Room 3519
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

To make online contributions, go to BSO's website www.sheriff.org.
From the home page click on the Memorial Fund under News From BSO.

Tephford was killed after he pulled over a car shortly after 11 p.m. and called for backup. As Tephford sat in his vehicle running information he received from the driver of the car, the passenger, identified by BSO as Eloyn Ingraham, jumped out of the car and began firing at Tephford and Deputy Corey Carbocci who had arrived on the scene.

Neither deputy had a chance to pull their weapons. Tephford was not wearing a protective vest and was pronounced dead at Broward General Medical Center. Carbocci, 37, who was standing near Tephford's cruiser when he was shot, was wearing a protective vest and is expected to make a full recovery.

The men charged in connection with Tephford's death were arrested Sunday at a Dania Beach motel. BSO recovered five weapons and ammunition when they arrested the trio, Eloyn Ingraham, Bernard Forbes and Andre Delancy.

Ingraham, 28, of Sunrise, is being held without bail on charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and possession of a firearm or destructive device.

Delancy, 19, and Forbes, 22, are charged with one count each of attempted murder and murder; their bail is set at $50,000. Delancy and Forbes are Bahamian nationals in this country illegally, according to authorities. Consequently, if they post bail, they will not be set free.

Forbes does not have an arrest record in Florida, according to state records. Delancy was arrested by Hollywood police in 2004 and charged with removing the serial number from a gun.

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