2 years later: Fallen PSPD officers remembered by community
Click for more on Today’s Remembrance Ceremony
On October 8, 2016, Palm Springs Police Officers Jose “Gil” Vega and rookie officer Lesley Zerebny were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call at a normally quiet neighborhood.
Vega, 63, served with the Palm Springs Police Department for 37 years, five years past his retirement eligibility, and had planned to finish his career just two months before his murder. He was training Zerebny, 27, who had been with the department for a year and a half and had just returned to duty from maternity leave after the birth of a daughter, Cora, four months earlier.
More than 18,000 people packed into the Palm Springs Convention Center to pay their respects to the fallen heroes.
The man accused in the killings, John Hernandez Felix, is scheduled to undergo a weeklong hearing to determine his intellectual fitness, a step connected to the prosecution’s bid to pursue the death penalty should he be convicted. Testimony at a hearing last year indicated the 911 call that preceded the gunfire was sparked by a fight between Felix and his sister over a remote control. The hearings will begin the day after the anniversary of the shootings, Tuesday, October 9.
Read: Hearing on death penalty for alleged Palm Springs cop killer set for October
Since the tragedy, the community has come together and rallied around the department. Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes credited this support as being critical in the department’s healing process.
“We always knew we had a tremendous amount of support throughout our community but the world seeded on a grander scale as far as the outpouring of support that day and all the way until now,” Reyes told KESQ & CBS Local 2 earlier this week.
Watch: PSPD Chief reflects on the deaths of Officers Zerebny & Vega
Last year, a four-mile stretch of Highway 111 was officially designated in their honor. The “Police Officer Jose ‘Gil’ Vega and Police Officer Lesley Zerebny Memorial Highway.” The stretch of road runs from Overture Drive to West San Rafael Drive. The Palm Springs Police Officers’ Association raised over $7,000 from the community to put signs up.
This week, local businesses have been doing their part to make sure their memories are never forgotten. American flags with the thin blue line are prominently displayed, raising money for family of the two officers.
Watch: Local businesses remember PSPD Officers Vega and Zerebny
Officers haven’t forgotten about the families of Zerbny and Vega. According to the Palm Springs Police Officer’s Association, a total of $1.8 million have been donated for the Vega and Zerebny families over two years.
The support isn’t just monetary, officers have been there to support their families at every step. On Vanessa Vega’s first day of middle school, officers from the Palm Springs Police Department, Cathedral City Police Department, Desert Hot Springs Police Department, as well as deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were there to escort her to class.
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“We feel like it’s our honor,” said Sgt. Casavan of PSPD. “We’re kinda like her impromptu dads, I guess you could say. We show up to the house, we give her a big hug and wish her a great day at school and she goes in a police car to school and we follow her and walk her into class.”
A memorial event was held to remember Zerebny and Vega at the Palm Springs Police Department headquarters on the two-year anniversary of their deaths.
The next Sunday, the 2nd Annual Lesley Zerebny Memorial Softball Game will be played at Big League Dreams in Cathedral City. The PS Officers’ Association will take on the PS Firefighters’ Association. Tickets are $5, all proceeds will go to benefit the PSPD and PSFD memorial funds. Tickets will be available at the gate
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