Family, friends and strangers honor fallen Richmond Officer Seara Burton

RICHMOND, Ind. — The End of Watch Ride to Remember was founded by JC Shah in 2020 as a way to honor fallen police officers from the year before.

Organized by Beyond the Call of Duty, the purpose of the ride is to "ensure that no officer is forgotten, that their families know their loved one has not been forgotten; and that there is recognition, support and understanding to help them heal."

On Tuesday, July 16, that purpose arrived in Richmond to both honor fallen Richmond Police Department K9 Officer Seara Burton and to assure her family that she will never be forgotten.

Although Shah could not attend the event because of a family emergency, another organizer, Allison McCarter, said this year's ride departed from Spokane, Wash., on June 1 and will return on Aug. 12 after traveling to 254 agencies across 45 states and 23,000 miles.

Past rides have been at stops from the year before, although this year has transitioned to stops where officers have ended their watch in 2022 and 2023, with the next ride scheduled to begin on June 1, 2026.

Over the past three years, the ride has honored a combined total of 1,123 fallen officers, a number McCarter said is absolutely too many.

"We hate that we have to do this, but we're humbled that we're able to and to meet all these families and friends and communities of these men and women," she said. "We wouldn't trade any of it for five minutes with one family member."

While McCarter and Damian Ervin ride every mile of the trip, other riders, including law enforcement, join throughout the ride.

"We learned very early on our first trip that this wasn't only about honoring these men and women and their families, but it was also sharing the message that we saw and still continue to see from across the nation that there's so much support out there for law enforcement," McCarter said. "We see it at every gas station, hotel, parking lot, anywhere we pull over, people flock to the memorial and are consistently telling us to please pass our love on and tell these guys we appreciate them, we're thankful for them and we can't imagine a world without them."

Richmond Chief of Police Kyle Weatherly said Tuesday's visit was just another small step to honor and keep the legacy of Sierra alive.

"It's emotional," he said. "You see all the photos on the trailer. This is somebody's husband, somebody's father, somebody's son, somebody's mother. They are somebody to somebody, and they are all special to us. They paid the ultimate sacrifice, and it's up to us as a community, as a police agency, as a nation to ensure that we remember them for who they were: somebody that was willing to give everything for the safety of others."

Ami and Jennifer Miller, Burton's parents, were also there. Burton's family was recently given the ability to speak to the media after a court-issued gag order was dismissed.

"Our main goal was to make sure that Seara's memory was never forgotten and that her legacy will go on, and these folks helped to do that," said Ami, Burton's stepmother and a Richmond Police Department officer. "All these faces on this truck, they sacrificed their life, and it's amazing what these folks are doing, not only to honor Seara, but every officer up there that lost their lives."

Ami also did not hold back in sharing her admiration for the community's support to the family the last two years, saying, "How our community came together when she was first shot and then how they stayed together and after she passed and how they still appreciate everything she's done, the community has been amazing, and they continue to be.

"It's great now that we can be free to speak and my wife and I are able to thank everybody. There's an endless list of people to thank."

In going along with memorializing her stepdaughter, Ami got two tattoos, the first of Burton's heartbeat with the name "Junior" (Ami's nickname for her) written in Burton's handwriting, and the second of Burton's End of Watch date with a female warrior sign, the latter of which Jennifer and six or seven of the family members and close friends have also gotten.

"That's exactly what Seara was. That day, she was a warrior," Ami said. "Until my last breath, she will never be forgotten."

Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email ateweaver@gannett.com.