Widow of slain NYPD cop Wenjian Liu reveals touching tale involving tot
The widow of slain NYPD cop Wenjian Liu recounted a touching story involving the couple’s ”miracle” child during a memorial service Monday for her hubby and his murdered police partner Rafael Ramos.
Sanny Liu — who gave birth to daughter Angelina thanks to artificial insemination two and a half years after her husband was killed — recalled how the 4-year-old recently reacted upon seeing NYPD officers honoring the father she’s never met.
“She knows her father was a police officer and was a brave hero,” Sanny said of Angelina during the ceremony at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
“A few months ago, I was driving with Angelina in the car. We were behind a police car in traffic,” the widow told the 200 attendees who filled the pews, including outgoing NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, his replacement Keechant Sewell and Mayor-elect and former cop Eric Adams.
“Suddenly, Angelina shouted, ‘Look, Mommy, Mommy! There’s Daddy!’ And I looked, and there was a sticker on the back of the police car. Angelia saw it herself,” the mom recalled.
“And the sticker said, ‘In memory of Detective Ramos and Detective Liu.’ And it means so much to me and my family that you will never forget about Wenjian and his partner Rafael.”
The widow brought to the podium Angelina, who wished the crowd a merry Christmas.
Wenjian Liu and Ramos were killed in a brazen street execution Dec. 20, 2014 — shot point-blank in the head by an “emotionally troubled” cop-hating lone gunman as the pair sat in their squad car in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Sindy Ramos, Rafael’s sister, said her emotional wounds from the senseless slayings have not yet healed.
“Seven years, and for me, it’s as fresh as year one,” she said of the day.
“He’s in my heart and mind every second, the most when I’m going through something and I’m all stressed out,” she said of her brother. “He’s missed so much, but I know that he’s with me and all of us in spirit.”
Sanny and Wenjian Liu had only been married three months when he was killed.
“No matter how many years pass by, my life’s never easy without him,” Sanny told those gathered. “There’s never a day that goes by that I’m not not reminded he’s no longer with us.
“Seven years ago, he was taken from all of you. He was taken from me. He was taken from his parents. And he was taken from the joy of raising his beautiful daughter Angelina.”
Liu was able to get pregnant with her daughter thanks to semen taken from her mortally wounded husband before he died in the hospital.
Shea paid tribute to Ramos’ and Liu’s “sacrifice.”
“To the families, the most important thing, and I think you know this by now, we will never forget your two husbands and the sacrifice they made for this city,” the top cop said.
“But really a lot more than that, for who they were as men, as fathers,” he said. “We will never forget two heroes of the New York City Police Department.”
Adams, a retired NYPD captain, expressed appreciation for members of the force, vowing to ensure they are kept stay safe under his watch.
“We’re just really here today to show our respect and to thank the family and this community for continuously lifting up this family and all the support that’s needed,” he told reporters after the service.
“I say over and over again that we stand under the tree of freedom because — the men and the women of the Police Department — they have watered that tree with their blood and sacrifice,” he said.
“And we want to make sure that we don’t lose officers and we don’t lose civilians in this city. That is our commitment and our dedication.”
