Maya McFadden Photos
Gonzalez's daughter Diane Mora-Valez and grandson Nathaniel check out honorary portrait.
City police, elected officials, and family celebrated the life of Officer Diane Gonzalez at the unveiling of a memorial portrait and plaque two months after she succumbed to injuries suffered in an on-duty car crash.
Officer Gonzalez suffered from a traumatic brain injury that put her in a coma after the crash, which occurred at the intersection of Chapel and East Streets when she was responding to a 911 call on Sept. 9, 2008. Gonzalez’s cruiser collided with another driven by Sgt. Dario“Scott” Aponte, who was killed in the crash.
Gonzalez succumbed to her injuries on Jan. 10, 2022.
Interim Chief Renee Dominguez, Mayor Justin Elicker, fellow police officers, and relatives of Gonzalez joined at the police headquarters Tuesday for the unveiling on the department’s “Above and Beyond” fallen officer memorial wall in the 1 Union Ave. lobby.
Memorial engineer William McMillan unveils portrait Tuesday.
The department, city, and family members celebrated Gonzalez’s 13 years of service on the New Haven force.
Dominguez said she has received thousands of cards and notes about Gonzalez from people worldwide.
“Never as a chief do you want to have to bury one of your officers. Never as a chief do you want to unveil their picture on memorial in the lobby. We hope and pray that those faces that are left empty will never be filled,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez at Tuesday's ceremony.
Gonzalez’s three children, Diane Mora-Velez, Kathleen Mora, and Ramon Mora, joined the ceremony for their mother and brought along Gonzalez’s 5‑year-old grandson Nathaniel.
Mora-Velez said her mother dedicated her life to “her family and her job.” She said her mother was always proud to be a police officer and felt a sense of “brotherhood and sisterhood” with her colleagues.” Gonzalez left behind five grandchildren in total.
Mora-Velez said she works hard to keep her mother’s memory alive with her four kids by showing them pictures and a video of her graduation from the police academy.
“She would have chosen a different picture,” Mora-Velez joked after the portrait unveiling.
Memorial creator William MacMullen.
William McMullen, a city government retiree who engineered and designed the memorial, unveiled Gonzalez’s portrait, which marks the 23rd fallen officer in New Haven and the first woman officer lost.
“We hope that the memorial that is in there really is seen by the citizens of this city so they realize the ultimate sacrifice that being in public safety can be,” McMullen said.
President of The Hundred Club of Connecticut Peter Carozza joined the ceremony and presented Gonzalez’s two daughters and son each with gifts.
“Today and everyday we remember Officer Diane Gonzalez,” police spokesperson Officer Scott Shumway said.