Miami-Dade family grieves after Lt. Helio Garcia dies while on duty in Georgia

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A family in Miami-Dade County was grieving Lt. Helio Garcia who died Wednesday after a head-on crash in Georgia.

Garcia was at the Grady Memorial Hospital after he was injured on Tuesday night while on duty with the South Fulton Police Department.

Garcia joined the department in 2018. South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows held a news conference after his death.

“In the 39 years I have been doing this job, I have lost a lot of friends in the line of duty, and certainly none hits harder than this one to me, simply because Helio meant a great deal to me as a leader in this organization,” Meadows said.

Garcia is survived by his wife, Eliana Garcia; his children Angelina Rosa Pittman, Nicolas Anthony Garcia, and Isabella Echeverri; his parents Helio Armando Garcia Jr., and Ana Garcia; and his brothers, William Anthony Garcia, and Jonathan Andrew Garcia.

Garcia’s funeral service is at 1 p.m., on Monday at World Changers Church International in College Park. His family is planning to bury him next to his late son Giovanni Armando Garcia at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South & Woodlawn Park Cemetery South in Miami-Dade County.

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