North Charlotte Today

Approximately four months after Mia Goodwin was killed in the line of duty, more than 1,000 family members, friends, community members and fellow officers drove through Oasis Shriners in Charlotte on Saturday to commemorate her life, close to what would have been her 34th birthday.

"I saw these vehicles and these individuals that came together for my baby; it was overwhelming," Antonio Figueroa, father of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer Mia Goodwin, told WBTV. 

Goodwin was killed in December, just a few days before Christmas, while she had been responding to an earlier wreck that required shutting down part of Interstate 85. A tractor-trailer jack-knifed and struck two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police vehicles.

“They were just honored to be part of Mia’s life and they wanted to continue her legacy as well, so they wanted to be here as well,” Crystal Ashe, organizer of the drive-thru remembrance that drew about 1,400 visitors, said in the report.

Goodwin is survived by her husband and three children. In light of that, Back the Blue NC and someone else opened two separate GoFundMe accounts that ended up raising more than $250,000 that is to be put into a trust for the young children, GoFundMe.com records show. 

“I applaud the gratefulness for her being a police officer, but I want everybody to know that she was a fantastic daughter, an awesome child, a friend, a great mother, a great sister,” Figueroa said. “And that’s who Mia Danielle Figueroa Goodwin was.”