The Corrections Chapter of the Police Benevolent Association of Georgia and the Police Benevolent Foundation are seeking donations to help the family of Officer Robert Clark, who died after he was reportedly attacked by an inmate at Smith State Prison.
Clark’s funeral Mass was held Friday at St. Stephen the First Martyr Catholic Church in Hinesville.
When the family of Robert Clark talked to Father Adam Kasela, the first words they said were, “he loved,” followed by the object of his affection and attention.
Father Kasela, parish priest at St. Stephen Catholic Church, delivered the homily Friday afternoon at Clark’s funeral Mass. Clark, a corrections officer, died after he was stabbed by an inmate using a homemade weapon. Clark died from his wounds after he was rushed to a nearby hospital.
At St. Stephen on Friday afternoon, dozens of law enforcement officers from several different agencies, counties and states stood at attention as Clark’s casket was delivered to the church on a horse-drawn carriage.
“Today, we’re here to comfort you, to dry your tears,” Father Kasela said to Clark’s family during his homily. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and the senseless way in which Robert passed.”
Father Kasela said the measure of his man is not his wealth or his power but “his integrity, his fellowship and his ability to affect those around him positively. Officer Robert Clark was such a man.”
As part of the Mass, the first reading came from Ecclesiastes, and Father Kasela noted that passage shows there is a proper time for everything. The responsorial psalm was the 23rd Psalm, and the second reading was a letter from Paul to the Corinthians.
The gospel reading came from sermon on the mount.
“St. Matthew tells us we should be glad and rejoice, because there is a great reward in heaven,” Father Kasela said.
Father Kasela also noted Clark’s love for animals and for his family. He also beseeched St. Michael, the patron saint of peace officers.
“Protect them, as they protect us,” he said.
An honor guard from the Forsyth County Sheriff ’s Office delivered a 21gun salute, and the Georgia State Patrol provided a flyover from three of its helicopters, with one helicopter peeling off to form a missing man formation, as the services came to a close.
Clark was escorting two prisoners, Marko Willingham and Layton Lester, at Smith State Prison when Lester attacked Clark, according to the state Department of Corrections. Willingham stepped in to help Clark, and Lester attacked him as well. Willingham was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Willingham is serving a life sentence for a 2002 murder committed in Walton County.
Lester, serving a life sentence for murder and armed robbery, was transferred to the DoC’s Special Management Unit in Jackson.
A number of warrants have been filed against Lester. The Department of Corrections has charged him with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault
