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Ceremony Honors Two Miami-Dade Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade police, along with family and friends, took a moment Tuesday to remember two courageous officers who were shot to death in the line of duty four years ago.

Detectives Amanda Haworth and Roger Castillo were honored Tuesday on the fourth anniversary of their death.

"Amanda and Roger are with us in spirit, as are so many who came before us. We use their memories and their heroic actions as our guiding light," said Miami-Dade Police Department's Deputy Director Juan Perez.

Tuesday's commemorative ceremony, held at the butterfly garden in front of theMiami-Dade Police Department Fred Taylor Headquarters Building, located at 9105 NW 25th Street in Doral, was a chance for loved ones and colleagues to take pause and remember officer Haworth and Castillo's ultimate sacrifice.

"A strong woman, she loved what she did and loved all these people here and they loved her back. She was an amazing person, so was Roger," said Austin Haworth, Amanda Haworth's son.

Major Jesus Ramirez, Castillo's partner, was also at the ceremony.

"He was a great friend, someone we all learned from and most of all I'm never going to forget Roger's sense of humor," said Major Ramirez.

CLICK HERE to watch Gaby Fleischman's report

Haworth and Castillo were members of a special police squad that went looking for the worst of the worst criminals.

On January 20, 2011, their target was Johnny Simms, a career criminal wanted for murder.

When the detectives knocked on the door of Simms' mother, she let them in. But as soon as Haworth entered the house, Simms burst through a bedroom door and began firing – even though his own mother was in the line of fire.

Simms shot Haworth in the head and then as he ran out the front door shot and killed Castillo. Simms was killed himself a few seconds later by Oscar Plasencia, another detective from the warrants squad.

"He came out firing. He ultimately killed Amanda and Roger," said Detective Placensia, who was present at the ceremony Tuesday. "When I confronted him he fired rounds at me, I returned fire and he went down."

Haworth and Castillo's death shook the community. Their memorial was one of the largest in south Florida history.

Now, with their children looking on, the department set up the Castillo-Haworth warrants bureau Detective of the Year award in their memory.

Detective Plasencia was the first recipient.

"It keep the memory of Roger and Amanda alive," Det. Plasencia said.

The award serves as a reminder of the risk law enforcement officers take every day to serve and protect--and the ultimate sacrifice the Castillo and Haworth had to make to keep the community safe.

"So many are trying to harm us today from terrorists to criminals and we don't back down we are Amanda and roger. We thank them we thank the family for giving them to us. We honor them by continuing to press forward and by doing so we keep them alive for eternity," said Deputy Juan Perez.

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