Cop who got COVID will get funeral honors after sister complained of ‘disservice to my family’

Officer Titus Moore will get an honors funeral after all.

The Chicago cop died Nov. 24 from what his family says was a coronavirus infection. They were upset the Chicago Police Department hadn’t declared that Moore — whose funeral will be Tuesday — died in the line of duty.

The Chicago Sun-Times posted a story Friday quoting his sister Thea Moore saying, “It’s incomprehensible why they didn’t do that for someone who worked for them for 14 years, got COVID on the job and was working overtime before he got sick. They are doing a disservice to my family.”

Later Friday, the department said it would give Moore full honors.

But a source said the department is still waiting for tests results from the Cook County medical examiner’s office before deciding whether he died in the line of duty.

“The death of Officer Titus Moore is a loss for the Chicago Police Department and the entire city,” a written statement from the department said. “He left an irreplaceable void and a legacy of service within our department. In memory of Officer Moore and his 14 years of service, CPD is coordinating an honors funeral for him next week.”

Paramedics found Moore dead at his home near 94th Street and South Wabash Avenue after they were asked to do a well-being check.

Moore, 46, a field training officer in the Fifth District on the Far South Side, had been quarantining at home since he called his lieutenant and said he had flu-like symptoms, according to John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. He went on medical leave Nov. 9, Catanzara said.

Thea Moore, who is an assistant professor in the pharmacy school at the University of South Florida, said she got a voicemail from the medical examiner’s office a week after her brother’s body was found and was told he was “COVID-positive” and that his remains were being released to a funeral home.

The medical examiner hasn’t issued a cause of death, though, pending test results.

Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times

Moore said her brother was voracious reader and an introvert but fun to talk with once people knew him.

“People would say, ‘Oh, my gosh, he is so smart and funny,’ ” she said.

He grew up on the West Side and graduated from Whitney Young Magnet High School and Triton College. His father also was a cop.

Three other Chicago police officers have died of the coronavirus, all in hospitals. Before their funerals, each was deemed to have died in the line of duty. All were given full honors.

More than 1,560 Chicago police officers have tested positive for the virus.

Before the police department announced Moore would get an honors funeral, Catanzara, had called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to step in and make the declaration that Moore died in the line of duty, saying that would be “the right thing.”