The Triangle community honored the life and legacy of fallen Trooper Steven J. Perry on Wednesday.
A funeral was held at The Shepherd’s Church in Cary followed by a procession to a grave site in Durham.
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Perry was celebrated for his contributions to the highway patrol, but also his love for his family and commitment to serve those around him.
"Before he was Trooper Perry, Steven was a young man shaped by discipline, teamwork and determination," Col. Freddy Johnson, Jr. said during the service. "[Those are] attributes I think we can directly thank his mother for. Mrs. Perry, thank you for raising a fine young man...as a former football player at North Carolina Central University, he understood sacrifice, preparation and brotherhood. On the field, he learned that success depends on trusting the person beside you."
At the end of the service, a radio dispatch tribute was read for Perry.
"The badge brought us together, but the brotherhood made him my best friend," said trooper Logan Coats.
A procession took drivers on Interstate 40 West through the Durham Freeway and downtown Durham to Beechwood Cemetery around 2 p.m. Area fire squads saluted the procession along overpasses.
A private burial was held in Durham.
A memorial of flowers and a flag laid over a patrol car was placed outside the Cary church for those wishing to formally remember the trooper and father who was dedicated to serving his community before his life was tragically taken on March 1.
Perry was killed in a crash on the Durham Freeway from a wrong-way driver, Melshawn Moore, slammed into Perry’s vehicle. They both died.
Investigators believe Moore, who has three prior DWI convictions, was intoxicated at the time.
Perry served Durham County as a trooper for nearly seven years and was a beloved member of the North Carolina Central University football team from 2014 to 2017, where he played as an offensive lineman and started every game of his senior season.
Perry, who was just 30 years old at the time of his death, recently had a daughter, his brother told WRAL News.