Conor McDonald: Late hero detective Finest Steven McDonald's son will advance to rank of NYPD captain
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The son of the fallen hero Finest Steven McDonald and a member of the NYPD, Conor McDonald, will reportedly be promoted to police captain. On July 12, 1986, Conor's father was shot in the Central Park Precinct of the NYPD while questioning a 15-year-old boy about crimes.
And now, the 35-year-old Lt Conor is on his way to making his dad proud as he is listed as number 133 on the Captain's Promotion List, according to a departmental record obtained by the New York Post. In the 1986 event, one of the bullets broke Steven's vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down, while another injured his throat, affecting his ability to speak. Steven died in 2017 at the age of 59 after relying on a ventilator to help him stay alive for more than three decades. Shavod Jones, the person who shot Steven, was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after completing his nine years in prison.
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Jones, better known on the streets as Buddha, had a difficult life growing up which came to a sudden end when he was just 15 years old as he was arrested for shooting Steven in Central Park. He was arrested and was serving nine years before being released in September 1995.
Jones died three days later after a bizarre motorbike accident in front of his mother's Harlem apartment. The New York Police Department hero had officially forgiven Jones, who had then called Steven's residence and apologized to the officer, his wife, and their son.
"They became friends. They talked it out and I'm glad they got to do that. He wanted to apologize and set things straight," Jones' mother, Sharron Harris, recounted in an interview with the Daily News. "If Shavod had lived, he probably would have been an aide to Detective McDonald. In the end, Shavod had a good heart."
A post written by Steven for the Catholic Planet website stated that Jones, whether living or dead, was never far from Steven's thoughts. "Shavod is with me wherever my story is told. We have helped many people, the two of us," Steven wrote.
"Much of his life was spent suffering. Now he is at peace and in heaven," Steven remarked after Jones died. Harris, the mother of Jones, offered the McDonald family her sympathies and expressed her appreciation for the heroic actions of the police officer. "I'm so sorry Detective McDonald passed away. I was thinking of going to his funeral, but it would be too much. I'm sorry. It's been so bad," Harris stated.