Roll of Honor
Erik James Skelton
Incident
Location: Florida Incident Date: Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Officer Erik Skelton died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 while working at the Miami International Airport.
Officer Skelton had served with the United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs & Border Protection for over four years. He had served with the Adams County Sherriff's Office, Colorado Department of Corrections, Glendale Police Department, and the Transportation Security Administration.
COVID-19 and Law Enforcement
Officer Erik James Skelton died on August 24, 2021 of COVID-19 contracted in the line of duty. He was 34.
He is one of 884 officers honored here, and one of 29 at United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations.
Beginning in early 2020, law enforcement officers across the country contracted COVID-19 in the course of their duties. While much of the nation sheltered at home, they kept answering calls, making arrests, transporting prisoners, and working face to face with the public. There was no distance to be had from the job.
Corrections officers were hit hardest. Confined facilities and large populations meant constant, close, unavoidable exposure.
Survivors
Officer Skelton is survived by his wife, parents, and three sisters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-71ECC9D0- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
The country locked its doors. You kept working.
Officer Skelton gave the United States Department of Homeland Security 6 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Skelton.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer Erik James Skelton is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations, 30 of 39 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 76.9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Erik James Skelton's cause is highlighted.
How Erik James Skelton Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Erik James Skelton is highlighted in Aug.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
38 officers from United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - Office of Field Operations are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
