David Evans was a Chicago Police officer with a deep love for his family, and the respect of fellow officers.
Mr. Evans, 39, was killed Monday morning when the squad car in which he was riding plunged from the 79th Street overpass onto the Dan Ryan Expressway as he and his partner responded to a call for assistance from paramedics and other police.
He had been a police officer for 11 years and assigned to the Gresham District on the far South Side for the last nine.
“He was a good policeman and very well liked,” said District Commander Mark Davis.
Officer Dwayne Betts, who worked with Mr. Evans in Gresham and in the Wentworth District where they were both assigned as rookies, said, “He was a no-nonsense type of guy who was very family oriented. At work, he would talk about his family and kids and what he was going to do with the kids when he got off of work.”
But, Betts added, “He never backed down from doing his job.”
Mr. Evans had received 15 honorable mentions for outstanding police work during his career, according to Commander Davis.
A resident of the West Englewood neighborhood, Mr. Evans graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in industrial engineering.
In his free time, Mr. Evans was an avid tennis player, and a member of the Avalon Park tennis team. He was working on a book about the dynamics involved in playing tennis, Betts said.
“It was very much involved with swinging the tennis racket and had diagrams on the movements of your arms and legs,” Betts said of the book.
“He had enough seniority to be able to work the day shift,” Davis said. “But he came to me and asked to be transferred to the first watch (midnights) so that he could spend more time with his family.”
Mr. Evans is survived by his wife, Micheline; a son, Brandon King; and two daughters, Burgundy King and Ashlee.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Leak & Sons Funeral Home, 7838 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Services will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday in the Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Ave.
