‘My daddy is a hero’: Son of fallen officer shares tear-jerking obituary in father’s memory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) - An officer who was killed in the line of duty earlier this week is being remembered by his family and the community her served.

A 16-line poem was shared in the obituary for fallen officer Alden Elliott that was written by his son, Theo.

“My daddy is a hero. He died getting the bad guys, that’s what he was good at,” Theo wrote to start the poem. “He is kind and patient. He keeps my mom and I safe. He is my daddy; the best daddy.”

Elliott was one of four law enforcement officers killed Monday as they attempted to serve a warrant at a home in east Charlotte.

“For my 12th birthday, he bought me a dirt bike. He bought himself one too, so that we could ride together,” Theo shared. “I will learn how to ride it and we will ride together one day, Daddy.”

Elliott’s childhood best friend Michael Morris said they grew up together in the same neighborhood and spent their free time hanging out together nearly every day through middle and high school.

They were an athletic duo, and memories of playing sports together stand out in sharp relief -- such as when Elliott settled on Rickey Henderson as his favorite baseball player.

“He would record games that Rickey Henderson played and study every little movement that he would do,” Morris recalled. “When we played it was like watching Rickey play -- from the batting gloves to how he adjusted his hands. It was uncanny.”

Morris broke down when he mentioned reading the obituary Theo wrote for his father.

“I have a son and a daughter,” he said. “I’m just so sorry for his family.”

When Elliott graduated high school and ultimately joined the Marines, their friendship drifted apart as life got in the way. It’s something Morris regrets now -- he’d give anything to hang out one more time.

“You never know when [your family] is going to be taken from you, and so you just have to love people. Love your family. Let them know every day,” Morris said.

The father, husband, Marine, and 14-year veteran of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction was honored Thursday with a procession from the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office to a funeral home in Catawba County.

A memorial service with military honors is also scheduled for May 9 at the campus of Catawba Valley Community College.

President Joe Biden was in Charlotte on Thursday to pay his respects to Elliott and the three other fallen officers.

Theo described his dad as “an expert marksman” and a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. He said the two loved playing video games together.

“He was the best man I will ever know,” he wrote. “And I hope to be just like him.”

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