Candlelight vigil remembers Beach officer as 'a true hero'

VIRGINIA BEACH

The parking lot of the Green Run Square Shopping Center was stadium-bright Sunday night, like it was three days earlier, when police Detective Mike Phillips was killed during an undercover operation.

The USA Discounters sign was lit; "No Money Down." The 7-Eleven sign burned green, red and white. Security lights shone from the buildings, overhead lights in the parking lot.

But Sunday night, there were hundreds more lights, lights from candles hoisted into the air in Phillips' honor.

Phillips, 37, died Thursday buying a half-pound of marijuana in the parking lot during a sting operation. While Phillips was making the deal, police say, a man approached the truck he was in and shot him three times in the chest, then tried to rob him. Ted Vincent Carter, 23, and Marshall D. Moyd, 26, have been charged in his death.

On Sunday, about 300 people, many of them members of the law enforcement community, gathered to pay tribute to the husband and father of two boys.

"Your dad did things most men read about," said Deputy Chief Jim Cervera, facing Phillips' sons, Bailey, 10, and Bristol, 7. "He was a true hero."

Other speakers included Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf, special investigations Capt. Dennis Santos and department chaplain Jim Ullian.

Guests were invited to sign a book by a makeshift memorial to Phillips. The memorial included dozens of floral arrangements, some from a flower shop 50 yards from where Phillips was killed. There was a plaque with the words from "Amazing Grace" on it, and a child's drawing of an officer floating on a cloud. "My Dad's friend died," it read, "and everyone is terribelly sad. He was a great guy. Please take care of him."

Also placed at the memorial was a package of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

"I always used to tell him, 'You can't eat those while you're working!' " said his onetime partner, Riya Sloan. "But then I'd end up sharing them."

Sloan last visited with Phillips three weeks ago, when he fixed her air conditioner. She said he was unflappable.

"Mike was that guy - the clown who would hide and protect his own feelings," Sloan said. "He'd make sure you were OK."

Ingrid Squires, wife of Beach Lt. Dave Squires, brought their 7-year-old son to the vigil.

"I think it's important he see this," she said, gesturing to the crowd of men with close-shaved heads - some of them in uniform, some not. "If something happened to my husband, my son would have a slew of dads raising him."

The Honor Guard rite performed during the vigil is aimed at reinforcing that sense of camaraderie, said Master Police Officer Dana Johnson.

Johnson is the longest-serving member of the Virginia Beach Police Honor Guard. In 24 years, this is the third time he's performed the Honor Guard rite for a fallen Beach officer.

"It's the best way we've been able to come up with through the centuries to show our respect," he said. "It's how we say goodbye."

A public viewing for Phillips is from 5 to 9 p.m. today at Rock Church, 640 Kempsville Road in Virginia Beach. His funeral is 1 p.m. Tuesday at Rock Church.

John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com