The memories are heartbreaking. The hurt still so very raw for Stephanie Raetz.
Three years ago, her husband, Phoenix police officer Daryl Raetz, was conducting a DUI traffic stop when he was run over and killed by a motorist.
His killer, Jesus Cabrera-Molina, was drunk, high and in the U.S. illegally.
In an instant, Stephanie lost her husband of seven years and their 5-year-old daughter left to face the world without her dad right by her side.
“We have a pact, we stick together,” said Stephanie, “There’s been a lot of difficult, a lot of difficult questions that’s she’s asked me that have been very difficult to answer. But, I do the best that I can and at the end of the day she knows her daddy is here.”
He is in spirit. But he will miss life's greatest milestones: first dance, graduation, college and someday walking down the aisle at her wedding.
Cabrera-Molina was sentenced to eight years in prison and seven years probation. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but changed it to no contest.
His sentence was the maximum sentence the judge could impose for a negligent homicide conviction.
Some day, he will be released from jail. It's something Stephanie thinks about. A tough realization.
“When my daughter is 14 or 15 years old, I could be walking down the street and run into him somewhere,” she said.
She holds on to the positives in a devastating situation. She remembers the comfort she felt when the wives of fallen officers reached out to her in her greatest time of need.
She plans to do the same to Kristen Glasser, whose husband, Officer David Glasser, was killed in the line of duty earlier this week.
Glasser leaves behind his wife and two young children. He served with the department for 12 years and was a part of the Neighborhood Enforcement Team.
