Helio Garcia joined the South Fulton Police Department with one goal in mind: He wanted to help build the organization.
Garcia started with the department in September 2018, just months after it began operations. He served until Tuesday night, when he was killed in a head-on crash while on duty. Garcia was 47.
“He meant a great deal to me and this police department,” Chief Keith Meadows said this week.
Though he loved to serve, Garcia was also remembered as a family man. He is survived by a wife and three children.
“Every time I sat down with Helio, he always brought up his children — where they were and their accomplishments in life,” Meadows said. “He lived his life with his family every day to the fullest. That was one of things I really respected about him.”
Garcia was driving his patrol vehicle on Flat Shoals Road near Hidden Brook Trail when another driver veered into his lane and struck him, according to the Georgia State Patrol. Both drivers were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, but Garcia did not survive.
The crash remains under investigation.
On Monday, family and friends will gather for a visitation and funeral service for Garcia.
Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at World Changers Church International in College Park, followed by the funeral at 1 p.m. at the church. Garcia will be laid to rest beside a son in Miami at a later date.
According to his obituary, Garcia is survived by survived by his wife, Eliana Garcia; children Angelina Rosa Pittman, Nicolas Anthony Garcia and Isabella Echeverri; along with his parents and two brothers.
“Helio was not only my husband — he was the love of my life and the steady heart of our family,” Eliana Garcia said in the obituary. “Helio lived his life with integrity, strength and an infectious kindness that touched everyone he met. Our hearts are broken by this loss, but we find comfort in the love he gave us and the memories we will carry with us forever. His legacy lives on in each of us.”
Garcia was the first South Fulton officer to die in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down page. The department previously lost a K-9 on Nov. 17, 2023. The dog was shot when officers fired at an aggravated assault suspect who was believed to be armed, police previously said.
The South Fulton officer is the second in Georgia to be killed in the line of duty this year. Roswell Police Department Officer Jeremy Labonte, 24, was shot and killed Feb. 7 responding to a suspicious person.
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