Published: June 25, 2009 08:28 am      

Mom says slain Pittsburgh officer’s grave defaced

PITTSBURGH — The mother of one of three Pittsburgh police officers fatally shot in April says someone has been defacing her son’s grave.

Frances Kelly says she’s found roses she put next to Officer Eric Kelly’s grave cut up with scissors, and says vandals have tossed wreaths left at the grave, as well as a small stuffed animal and balloons left there.

Twenty-two-year-old Richard Poplawski remains jailed on murder charges for allegedly gunning down Kelly and fellow officers Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II after Poplawski’s mother called 911 about a fight she was having with her son.

City police are now patrolling Allegheny Cemetery in the city’s Lawrenceville section to try and catch the vandals.

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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com