By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
DALLAS – Christina Foreman fought through her grief with defiance Thursday at a memorial service for her parents. Her mom, Cynthia McLelland, and her stepfather Mike, district attorney in Kaufman County, were gunned down last weekend in a case that remains unsolved.
Foreman said Mike McLelland had a big heart, raised her as his own, and always stood his ground. She said he was not afraid, and that was a lesson for everyone. “We cannot,” she said, “let the fear of what people are going to do to us or to our families stop us from doing the right thing.”
“The right thing is never easy. It’s hard. And he knew that, and he stood up anyway. And I will stand up any day, shoulder to shoulder with my parents and say ‘that they’re not going to win. And that we will continue to fight.’ And anybody who backs down is a coward. If you take anything away from this, it’s that we all need to stand up, because what will make this a tragedy is if we don’t.”
Family friend Leah Phillips said Cynthia and Mike McLelland were deeply in love with each other, their work, and their community.
“I can’t tell you how much we loved and adored this couple and their family. The world will never ever be the same without them. Cynthia my sister I’ll see you on the other side.”
Gov. Rick Perry traveled to Sunnyvale First Baptist Church in Mesquite to pay tribute, and he assured the family that the community was with them – and not just the local community.
“I’m talking about the millions of people across the state that are standing you in this tragedy sharing your pain in a very real way.
After the memorial service, Army veteran Mike McLelland was honored outside by a 21-gun salute. Uniformed officers from across Texas stood at attention. Those carrying the coffin folded the American flag draped over it and handed to his mother, in her wheel chair. An officer sounded taps. And there was a fly-over. The McLelland’s funeral and burial takes place this morning in Wortham.
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