LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A funeral service will be held today for Los Angeles Police Department Officer Valentin Martinez, the agency's first sworn employee to die of complications from COVID-19.
Martinez was a 13-year veteran of the department and is presumed to have contracted the virus on duty. He was 45 when he died on July 24, leaving behind his mother, his siblings and his domestic partner, who is pregnant with twins.
Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills' Hall of Liberty Mosaic Deck, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“He was a hero lost way too early in life,'' the Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors said in a statement last month. “All of our officers have placed themselves and their families at increased risk throughout the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.''
LAPD Chief Michel Moore tweeted his condolences to Martinez's family soon after his death.
“He worked as a patrol officer within (the LAPD's Mission Division), dedicating his life to the people of L.A. To his partner Megan, his mother, and siblings -- our deepest condolences,'' Moore said. “(Officer) Martinez, May God welcome you home.''
Martinez was the second LAPD employee to die from the illness. Erica McAdoo, a non-sworn senior detention officer, died from the virus July 3. She was 39.