GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Several friends and family members are mourning the sudden loss of Greensboro police officer Ciji Graham.
Karen Heggs was best friends with Ciji Graham. Heggs said they grew up in Salisbury together and as life would have it, she said they both ended up moving to Greensboro.
"We were dancing partners. We were singing partners. I thought I could rap, she thought I couldn't, that was my best friend," Heggs said. "She wasn't your average girly girl, don't get it twisted, she put on heels and she would dress up and get cute, but she would also turn around and be like 'Yo, what's up broski,' and she would say things like 'Ooo wee,' that was just her favorite."
Heggs said Ciji Graham was 34 years old. She had a two-year-old son and worked for the Greensboro Police Department.
"We lost the real-life hero," Heggs said. "She was my hero and she wasn't a regular cop that just had a badge and wanted to do her job, she wanted to do her job good and that's how she got police of the year last year because she wanted to do her job to the tee. Every day when she got ready to put that badge on and go out there and do what she did. She was a good cop."
Heggs said that she was scared to see her best friend put on the badge, but knew she was someone who was doing the job right.
"She was proud, and I was proud, but I was scared," said Heggs.
Heggs said on Sunday morning, she woke up to a call that her best friend died in her sleep. Heggs said it still doesn't feel real.
"Oh man that phone call was hard, I just fell to the floor," said Heggs.
Heggs said they are not sure what happened and are waiting for the autopsy to learn more. She said she wants people to remember the fun Graham brought to every situation.
"There were times when we were just sitting in the car, and we would be going absolutely nowhere and we would just be sitting there, listening to music, and laughing, that's what we did, we laughed a lot," said Heggs.
Heggs said she is on a mission now to make sure Graham's 2-year-old son knows how loved he was.
"She has a son and I think she wants him to know that she loved him to death," said Heggs.
She also said that she thinks Graham would want people to remember that she was more than just a badge, but a person who loved her friends, family, and community.
"I think she wants people to know that cops are human too, they are real people and she was a real person, I am going to miss her," said Heggs. "She was like female Batman. I just thought she was the strongest person ever. My friend is a cop and she was good at what she did."
Another friend of Graham's, Aleshia Thweatt, said that they grew up together in Salisbury and went to high school together.
"Ciji was always being silly, she was always laughing, she kept everybody laughing in class and things of that sort," said Aleshia Thweatt. "Memories that I've been thinking about lately is she had this beat-up Jimmy Truck, but she was one of the only ones that had a car when we were in high school, so we all used to pile in there and we would be everywhere."
Thweatt said she moved away after high school but still kept in touch with Graham. She said Graham was someone many people would look up to and that Graham was selected for the Livingstone College 40 Under 40 Society.
"She very much embraced her career," said Thweatt. "She moved up and she moved up in the ranks rather quickly and she received recognition from both the college that she attended, which was Livingstone College, and she just got recently got recognized for being in the police force and things of that sort."
Thweatt said for being the mom of a two-year-old boy, she always knew Graham would be a great mom because she was like a mother figure to several of her siblings.
"Her son is two and she loved him so much and he was a little fashionista," she said. "She dressed him nice with the cute little sneakers."
Thweatt said the news was difficult, after seeing several posts on Facebook.
"She was a great person and she cared about the community, in which she lived and worked," she said. "She was very giving, she always supported anything that anybody was doing the best way she could, she was just a good person, really gone too soon."
Thweatt said she hopes Ciji Graham's legacy lives on, and that people care for their community like she did.
"She had just made a post not too long ago that life is too short to not be happy, so just in life as you're going on, just remember that that's what she would want you to do," said Thweatt.
The Greensboro Police Department shared a statement following the death of Officer Graham to their Facebook:
It is with profound sorrow that GPD shares the heartbreaking news of the passing of one of our own. Our cherished colleague, Officer Ciji Graham, passed away of natural causes at her home on Sunday. Officer Graham was a kind and compassionate police officer and a tremendous asset to this agency. She was an adoring mother of one beautiful child, committed to her family, and her GPD family. Officer Graham had a passion for community engagement; her energy and joy were infectious. Ciji’s legacy transcends the uniform she wore and lives on in the lives of those she served in our community. The impact she had on our Department lives on in her squad mates and every one of us who knew her. We ask that you keep her family, friends, and coworkers in your thoughts and prayers as they find peace and celebrate her life.