Hundreds gather to honor slain SLOPD detective on anniversary of his death
More than 200 people gathered in Mission Plaza on Tuesday evening to celebrate the life of slain San Luis Obispo Det. Luca Benedetti on the one-year anniversary of his death.
A bell rung 23 times in reference to Benedetti’s body number, 4223. Plaza lights were lit blue while blue lights in white paper bags lined the Mission steps.
Benedetti died in a shootout on May 10, 2021, while serving a search warrant at the home of a man who friends and family said had been showing increasing signs of mental illness. He and the suspect, Eddie Giron, were both killed during the incident and another detective was shot and injured.
Benedetti left behind a wife and two young daughters.
San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart, San Luis Obispo City Manager Derek Johnson and San Luis Obispo Police Chief Rick Scott all shared their condolences during the ceremony on Tuesday.
Benedetti was killed just days before Scott began his role as San Luis Obispo Police Chief. While he never had the opportunity to know Benedetti personally, Scott said, the legacy Benedetti left behind was evident through the people he touched.
“I know him through the eyes of his wife, Grace. I know him through his daughters,” Scott said. “I know him through every employee and every police officer that had the honor of working with him.”
Carla Benedetti, Luca Benedetti’s sister, read a poem that is engraved in the Sacramento memorial where Luca Benedetti’s name was recently immortalized: “In the Line of Duty” by George Hahn.
“’In the line of duty, I hear them say, my family now the price will pay,’” she read. “’My folded flag stained with their tears, we only had those few short years.’”
Community members in the crowd held candles, and began to light each other’s one by one, starting with the Benedetti family.
In a few short minutes, candles lit up the plaza in Luca Benedetti’s memory.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
