HOUSTON — It was a historic moment in Houston as a horse-drawn hearse delivered George Floyd to his final resting place.
"I didn’t want any money because this means so much to me,” said Vintage Horse Carriage Rides owner Terrence Reed.
Reed said he and his family volunteered their service out of respect for Floyd and his family.
"It’s not about me, it’s not about my company, it’s not about that," Reed said. "It’s about how he was treated.”
Reed said his horse-drawn hearse was crafted by Amish woodworkers in Ohio and features glass windows so caskets can be viewed by mourners on either side. The horses that pulled the carriage are normally used to take tourists around downtown Houston. Reed said this was their most important mission ever.
"Personally, I have five boys myself,” fellow Jack Yates High alum Sylvia Reese Gurley said.
Gurley wanted to see the hearse in person and said the manner of George Floyd’s death is something she’s feared for her own children.
“I don’t think that all police are bad, but it’s just that laws need to be changed," Gurley said. "They’re worried about their families, but we’re also concerned about ours.”
She said it was a fitting way to send Floyd to his mother’s side at the cemetery. It's something Reed said he was beyond honored to help carry out.
"He was unjustly treated and, in America, it’s a sad day," Reed said. "We need to come together as one.”
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